Phelps stays on course - another golden day for China (2nd Roundup)

By John Bagratuni Aug 10, 2008, 16:58 GMT

Beijing - Swimmer Michael Phelps stayed on course for an unprecedented eight gold medals, winning the men's 400m individual medley in world record time on Sunday.

A star-studded US basketball team meanwhile overwhelmed China but the host nation won four more golds to take its tally to six to top the medals table after three days.

And Georgia and Russia embraced, albeit in the form of silver and bronze medallists Natalia Paderina and Nino Salukvadze.

All eyes were on Phelps in the Water Cube as he began his quest to break Mark Spitz' 1972 gold medal haul and he did not disappoint in front of a watching US President George W Bush.

It was the seventh Olympic gold of Phelps' career and his 23rd world record, achieved in a time of 4 minutes 3.84 seconds.

He announced afterwards that he would no longer swim the 400 individual medley and then had a rare second place finish in the men's 200m freestyle heats, qualifying but finishing 0.68 seconds behind Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry.

Another world record fell in the women's 400m individual medley with Australian Stephanie Rice taking nearly two seconds off the world best.

Rice clocked 4 minutes 29.45 seconds for her first major title and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe was also below the previous record with 4:29.89 for silver.

Favourite Katie Hoff had to settle for bronze in 4:31.71 as she lost her world record of 4:31.12 set on June 29 at the US trials.

But US-Australian domination was interrupted by teenager Park Taeh Wan who became the first South Korean to win a swimming gold winning the men's 400m freestyle.

After watching Phelps in action President Bush made his way later in the day to the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium to see the US basketball team defeat China 101-70 in an eagerly-awaited encounter.

Packed with NBA stars such as the league's Most Valuable Player, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Camel Anthony and Dwayne Wade, the Americans simply proved a class above Yao Ming's side.

The result means the Americans sit top of Group B while China hold up the six-team table.

President Bush, who was accompanied by wife Laura, and his father, former President George H W Bush, took his seat shortly before the arrival of the US team in the sold-out 18,000 capacity arena.

Elsewhere there were first golds for Great Britain with cyclist Nicole Cooke in the women's road race, and for Thailand with Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoonon winning the women's 53kg weightlifting.

The Czech Republic won their second gold with David Kostelecky in the men's shooting trap but it was China who topped the medals table at the end of day three.

They enjoyed diving success with Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia winning the synchronized 3m springboard; Judo gold for Xian Dongmei in the 52kg class; weightlifting success for Long Qingquan in the 56kg class; and gold for Guo Wenjun in the women's 10 metre air pistol.

Wenjun finished ahead of Georgia's Natalia Paderina and Russia's Nino Salukvadze who took silver and bronze respectively - and it was their embrace that will become one of these Games' enduring images just two days after hostilities between their two nations erupted in the Caucasus region.

'The competition was a victory for sport because sport stands for friendship. We have had so many big wars in the 20th century, what we need is peace. That is something politics can learn from sport,' said the 39-year-old Salukvadze.

Paderina agreed, saying: 'I have won many friends through sport. Not only in Russia but in many other countries. Nino competed for the Soviet Union for many years. We are friends and our embrace should show that politics can learn from sport.'

Away from the competitive action Chinese officials sought to reassure foreign visitors that they were safe in Beijing after the stabbing to death of the father-in-law of a US Olympic volleyball coach on Saturday.

The attack in Beijing in which the man's wife and a Chinese tour guide were injured, was an 'isolated criminal act' and not linked to the Olympics, said Wang Wei, the executive vice-president of the Beijing Olympic organizers.

And doping-tainted Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou was told she will not be allowed to compete at the Beijing Games.

Thanou brought the Olympic movement into disrepute in a 'a scandalous saga' four years ago, the International Olympic Committee (IOC)announced on Sunday.

Thanou, a 100m silver medallist from 2000, and Kostas Kenteris, the 200m Olympic champion in 2000, caused a huge scandal in Athens when they ran away from drug testers in the Olympic village on the eve of the opening ceremony.

They staged a motorcycle accident later that night and were hospitalised for several days. They then withdrew from the Games which prevented the IOC from continuing its investigation.

The IOC said it would resume the probe if the athletes aimed to compete at the Games again, which was the case with Thanou now.

Thanou issued a statement in which she spoke of 'totalitarian practices' of the IOC but it was not clear whether she would go before the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the ruling.