International Capsules: Slow lane: Phelps misses out world record binge
BERLIN — Racing in an old-style swimsuit and with little practice, Michael Phelps didn't join the swimmers in high-tech suits who went on a world record binge at two short-course World Cup meets this week.
Phelps had to settle for second place in the 200-meter individual final on Sunday behind Darian Townsend of South Africa, who broke one of the 16 world records set in two days of competition in Berlin.
Those records followed the nine that were set in Stockholm earlier this week as swimmers continue to rewrite the record books before the high-performance suits are banned on Jan. 1. More records are likely to be broken at the upcoming World Cup meet in Singapore, the European short-course championships and an All-Star meet in December.
Phelps ended his weeklong European tour with no wins in two meets, let alone any records. Still, the American wasn't complaining — at least not that much.
"I prefer not to lose, but I knew coming in that it would be very, very hard to win anything," Phelps said.
"I raced as hard as I could, I've gotten some racing under my belt and that's what we set out to do. Maybe it's better for me that I lost today, it gives me better motivation for the future," he said.
"I am pleased with the week as much as I can be, with how much training I've done, which is little. And it shows."
Phelps won an unprecedented eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics wearing a high-tech suit. While his rivals continue to swim in the soon-to-be banned suits, he has gone back to the old-style, textile knee-length suit, hoping he'll have an advantage when the rest of the swimmers return to them.
"Considering the suit he's wearing and the shape he is in, I'll take it," Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, said of his swimmer's performance in the two meets. "It could have been worse."
In Stockholm, Phelps also finished second in the 200 medley and missed three finals. In Berlin, he missed two finals and was fifth in the 200 butterfly Saturday.
Townsend also beat Phelps in Stockholm and on Sunday the difference was again more than 2 seconds.
The South African powered home in 1 minute, 51.55 seconds to break Ryan Lochte's world mark by one-hundredth of a second. Phelps clocked 1:53.70.
Earlier Sunday, Phelps failed to qualify for the 200 freestyle final and spoiled an anticipated showdown with rival Paul Biedermann. The German beat Phelps in the same event at the world championships in Rome in August and took away his world record. Until this week, Phelps had not competed since.
Biedermann shattered his second world record in two days when he won the 200 butterfly final in 1:39.37, slashing nearly 1.5 seconds off his old mark.
The German also broke the 400 freestyle record Saturday.
Several other swimmers broke two records in two days in Berlin: Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa in the men's 50 and 100 breaststroke; Shiho Sakai of Japan in the women's 100 and 200 backstroke; and Leisel Jones of Australia in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
Among the 10 record breakers Sunday was Jessica Hardy of the United States, who lowered her own 50 breaststroke mark to 28.80, after swimming 28.96 in Stockholm four days ago.
Hardy sets short-course WR in 50 breaststroke
BERLIN — Jessica Hardy of the United States has broken her 50-meter breaststroke short-course world record.
Hardy clocked 28.80 seconds at a World Cup meet on Sunday to break the mark of 28.96 she set at another meet in Stockholm four days ago.
Leisel Jones sets 200 breaststroke short-course WR
BERLIN — Leisel Jones of Australia has broken short-course world record in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Jones clocked 2:15.42 at a World Cup meet Sunday and broke the mark of 2:16.83 set by Annamay Pierse of Canada in Leeds, England, on Aug. 7.
Sakai sets 100 backstroke short-course WR
BERLIN — Shiho Sakai of Japan has broken her own short-course world record in the 100-meter backstroke.
Sakai clocked 55.23 seconds to win the event at a World Cup meet on Sunday and break the mark of 56.15 she set in Tokyo on Feb. 22.
Liu Zige sets 200 butterfly short-course WR
BERLIN — Liu Zige of China has broken her own short-course world record in the 200-meter butterfly.
Liu clocked 2 minutes, 0.78 seconds at a World Cup meet Sunday to break the mark of 2:02.50 she set in Stockholm four days ago.
Schreduer breaks women's 100 IM short-course WR
BERLIN — Hinkelien Schreuder of Netherlands has broken the short-course world record in the 100-meter individual medley.
Schreuder clocked 57.74 seconds at a World Cup meet Sunday to lower the mark of 58.40 set by China's Zhao Jing in Stockholm four days ago.
Vyatchanin breaks 200 backstroke short-course WR
BERLIN — Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia has broken the short-course world record in the 200-meter backstroke.
Vyatchanin clocked 1 minute, 46.11 seconds at a World Cup meet on Sunday to break the mark of 1:47.08 set by George du Rand of South Africa in Moscow one week ago.
Darian Townsend sets 200 medley short-course WR
BERLIN — Darian Townsend of South Africa has beaten Michael Phelps to break the short-course world record in the 200-meter individual medley.
Townsend clocked 1 minute, 51.55 seconds to win the race at a World Cup meet Sunday and break the mark of 1:51.56 set by Ryan Lochte of the United States in Manchester, England, on April 11, 2008.
Biedermann sets 200 freestyle short-course WR
BERLIN — Paul Biedermann of Germany has broken his short-course world record in the 200-meter freestyle.
Biedermann clocked 1 minute, 39.37 seconds at a World Cup meet Sunday to lower the mark of 1:40.83 he set at the same meet one year ago.
Van der Burgh sets 100 breaststroke WR
BERLIN — Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa has broken his own short-course world record in the 100-meter breaststroke.
Van der Burgh clocked 55.61 seconds at a World Cup meet on Sunday to break the mark of 55.99 he swam In Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on Aug. 9.
Korotyshkin sets 100 butterfly short-course WR
BERLIN — Evgeny Korotyshkin of Russia has broken his short-course world record in the 100-meter butterfly.
Korotyshkin clocked 48.48 seconds at a World Cup meet Sunday to lower the mark of 48.99 he swam in Moscow one week ago.
Winter Sports
Kreitzburg seeking a huge bobsled comeback
PARK CITY, Utah — Brock Kreitzburg was once in minicamp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He pushed a bobsled in the 2006 Turin Olympics. There's a long list of World Cup medals on his resume.
And somehow, an eighth-place finish in what otherwise seemed like an ordinary bobsled race now tops them all.
"My biggest athletic accomplishment," Kreitzburg said. "After everything I've gone through this past year ... it's really satisfying."
There was no medal ceremony for Kreitzburg on Saturday night, nobody asking him to pose for pictures or handing him flowers after the first four-man World Cup bobsled race of the season.
He didn't mind — not after being told a year ago that his career was over because of an injured left hip, that he might have to rely on a wheelchair within 10 years and seeing his primary funding source dry up in a bad economy.
Sure enough, being part of an eighth-place finish in John Napier's four-man sled felt like victory to Kreitzburg.
"It's miraculous that he was able to come back from the various surgeries that he's had," said Darrin Steele, the CEO of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. "That's a testament to his believing in his own ability and hard work and staying after it."
Kreitzburg's downward spiral really started 14 months ago.
After more than a year of chronic hip pain that no one could explain, he was referred to a specialist in Colorado, who finally identified the extent of the damage.
Kreitzburg had a torn and calcified labrum, bone chips and a bone spur. It all could be fixed arthroscopically, Kreitzburg was told, and surgery did seem to go well. A few months later, the pain was back, worse than ever — his hip was coming out of its socket, and a second and much more complicated surgery was needed to fix it.
Doctors made it clear, his bobsledding career was over. On top of all that, Home Depot — a longtime sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Committee — ended its program that gave many Olympic hopefuls jobs, Kreitzburg included.
"Faith is very important to me," Kreitzburg said. "I was literally crying out to God, 'What are you doing to me?'"
Three months after the second procedure, Kreitzburg was cleared to train again toward what even his closest supporters will acknowledge was an unlikely goal. Could an Olympic athlete miss the entire season before the Vancouver Games, plus battle a potentially career-ending injury, and make the team?
Maybe so. Other than some minor aches, standard in the sport, Kreitzburg says his hip is fine.
"He's already beating the odds," Steele said. "For him to be where he is, it's just remarkable."
Napier, Jamie Moriarty, T.J. Burns and Kreitzburg were the team that finished eighth Saturday night out of 26 sleds. As of now, Kreitzburg tentatively scheduled to ride with Napier again when the series shifts to Lake Placid, N.Y. this coming weekend.
Napier's quickly becoming one of his biggest fans.
"It's really nice," Napier said. "Brock and I are both Christians, and that's definitely a strong point for both of us. We get together and we're a really strong force."
Only a few weeks ago, Kreitzburg even being mentioned in the Olympic selection circle looked like a comical notion.
There were 16 Americans at the team push championships in Calgary two months ago. Kreitzburg finished dead last.
Undeterred, Kreitzburg kept working. Coaches began seeing improvement. Slowly, he worked his way into the World Cup mix again, and he looked much better in the team selection races.
"If you look at the surgery that he's gone through and the procedures, it's absolutely phenomenal that the guy has made the team," Steele said. "He wasn't just given the spot. He earned it."
It's still a long road to Vancouver for Kreitzburg. But in just a few weeks, he's gone from being an alternate on the USA-4 sled to part of the team racing in USA-3.
Before the hip surgeries, he was part of USA-1, racing with driver Steven Holcomb.
Kreitzburg insists that he's well on his way to being that good again — if not better.
"I've been on a downhill slide," he said. "I'm on the upswing now. I'm going to get healthier and stronger and faster."
-- Tim Reynolds
Herbst wins men's World Cup slalom; Miller DQd
LEVI, Finland — Reinfried Herbst of Austria won the men's World Cup slalom opener on Sunday, and American Bode Miller was disqualified in his first race of the season.
Herbst posted a two-run time of 1 minute, 49.79 seconds down the Black Course to beat runner-up Ivica Kostelic of Croatia by 0.28 seconds. It was Herbst's sixth career World Cup victory, all in slalom.
"In the first run I skied well, I had everything under control and made no big mistakes," Herbst said. "In the second run I was very fast on the flat parts. It was important to push from the first until the last gate."
Reigning World Cup slalom champion Jean-Baptiste Grange of France, last year's winner in Levi, finished third, 0.53 behind.
Miller barely qualified for the second run, finishing 30th in the opener to take the last slot. The former two-time overall champion got hit in the face by a gate early in the second run and did not finish.
"Bode was trying a lot of things in the first run, but he was still able to get a second run and then was skiing really well on the top before he got hit in the face with a gate," said U.S. technical head coach Rudi Soulard.
"His nose was bleeding pretty bad and he has a fat lip, but he's OK," Soulard said. "His skiing is not where he needs to be yet, but he's doing all the right things to get there."
A year ago, Miller finished second in the slalom opener in Levi. That was his best result of the season and his first slalom podium since December 2004. Last season was the first in which he failed to win a race in nearly 10 years.
He cut the season short and skipped the World Cup Finals in Sweden after failing to medal at the world championships — the third straight major championship where he failed to make the podium.
Ted Ligety and Jimmy Cochran of the U.S. finished 18th and 19th, respectively.
Most of the skiers had trouble with the steep section at the top of the course in the second run, with competitors being kicked out of line and ending up below the level of the next gate.
"I guess everyone had some kind of trouble there," Kostelic said. "I was speaking to my sister later and she told me that actually there was a rut and she said that everyone was hitting this rut."
Kostelic leads the overall standings with 102 points, two ahead of Herbst and speed specialist Didier Cuche of Switzerland after two races.
First-run leader Andre Myhrer of Sweden made several mistakes in the second round and dropped to 11th, 1.41 behind.
-- Stephan Nasstrom
Davis, Nesbitt win World Cup 1,000-meter races
HEERENVEEN, Netherlands — Shani Davis won the 1,000-meter World Cup speedskating race on Sunday for his second individual victory of the weekend.
The racing was overshadowed by the news that three-time Olympic gold medalist Marianne Timmer of Netherlands is out with a broken left heel from a fall on Friday and will probably miss the Vancouver Games.
Davis finished in 1 minute, 8.48 seconds to edge Simon Kuipers of Netherlands. Davis won the 1,500 on Friday and was also on the U.S. team that tied for first with the Netherlands in the men's pursuit.
Kuipers finished in 1:09.06 and Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea was third in 1:09.11.
Christine Nesbitt of Canada won the women's 1,000 in 1:15.47 followed by Dutch skaters Annette Gerritsen and Natasja Bruintjes.
The 35-year-old Timmer is one of the stars of the powerful Dutch speedskating team. She won her first Olympic 1,000-meter title at the 1998 Nagano Games, where she also took gold in the 1,500. She defended her title in the 1,000 at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.
Initial tests after Timmer fell in a 500-meter World Cup race suggested she had a light rupture of a tendon in her left ankle and could be back on the ice in four weeks.
But Jac Orie, Timmer's coach, said an MRI exam on Sunday morning showed breaks in Timmer's heel that will require 12 weeks to heal.
"This season is over," Orie said at Thialf Stadium. "She's terribly upset."
Asked if Timmer had a chance of defending her 1,000 title at the Vancouver Olympics in February, Orie said: "It's not realistic. She can't put any weight on the foot for weeks."
Timmer told Dutch broadcaster NOS her first thought on hearing the result was the Olympics.
"That is the worst thing. The games have been in my mind for years," she said.
Davis extended his unbeaten run to four races in World Cup 1,000 and 1,500 events this season.
Nesbitt, the reigning world champion at 1,000 meters, made it two wins out of two World Cup races this season, following her victory last week in Berlin. She also was second in the 1,500 on Saturday.
Without Timmer, the Dutch women's pursuit team ended second behind Canada, which set a track record of 3:00.39. Russia was third.
In the men's pursuit, the Netherlands, without sick star Sven Kramer, tied for victory with the United States team of Davis, Chad Hedrick and Trevor Marsicano. Both teams finished the 3,200-meter race in 3:43.94.
Ohno wins 1,000 at short track World Cup
MARQUETTE, Mich. — Apolo Anton Ohno won the 1,000 meters at the short track speedskating World Cup on Sunday, beating South Korea's Lee Jung-su in the final.
Canada's Francois Hamelin finished third.
American Katherine Reutter of the U.S. finished second in the women's 1,000 behind Meng Wang of China. Park Seung-hi of South Korea was third.
Sunday was the final day of qualifying for spots at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Figure Skating
Belbin-Agosto win ice dance title
LAKE PLACID, New York — Kim Yu-na was not infallible, but the world champion from South Korea was still a winner at Skate America.
Feeling nervous and "heavy," Kim won her second straight Skate America title despite losing the free skate Sunday to American Rachael Flatt.
Kim made two major mistakes, including a fall on the triple flip — the one element on which she has struggled at times. That left enough of an opening for Flatt, the U.S. runner-up last January, to take the free program 116.11 points to 111.70.
But Kim had such a large lead after her short program that she took the gold medal by more than 13 points from Flatt, with Julia Sebestyen of Hungary finishing third.
"Not every skater can achieve what they want every time," Kim said through a translator. "I felt my stamina was not that good. I couldn't move my body like what I thought.
"I got a very good score in my first Grand Prix in Paris and I was feeling the expectations from many people. I was under pressure about that.
"I learned a lot today — always try to focus on the next jump."
Flatt wasn't spectacular, either, and received no points for one of her spin sequences, when she almost seemed to lose her way on the ice. But she hit seven triple jumps and broke out in a huge smile after nailing a triple flip-triple toe loop on her second element.
Kim, meanwhile, landed only three triples cleanly.
She heads to the Grand Prix Final next month in Tokyo, where she again will be the favorite.
Unlike Kim, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto didn't stumble at all and swept all three portions of ice dance.
Belbin and Agosto skated to "Ave Maria" and "Amen" and admitted it was not their very best. But the 2006 Olympic silver medalists and current world runners-up staged a fast, energetic free skate that earned them 95.62 points Sunday. Their overall score of 195.85 was best by nearly 24 points over Italy's Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte.
"Once again, we felt able to execute all three segments of the competition," Agosto said of winning compulsories and original dance before taking the free dance. "Today was hard. We put a lot of energy into yesterday and this was not our very best.
"There's a long way to go to the end of the season and a lot of room to grow."
They are headed to next month's Grand Prix Final, too, as are the Italians.
"We're still processing it," Cappellini said. "It's a bit unexpected. It was not exactly our goal this season. It's a good reward for everything we were doing this summer ... it's a big thing."
The bronze medal for Alexandra and Roman Zaretski of Israel also was a big thing.
"This was definitely one of our best free dances we ever skated," he said. "I have no words. This is my first medal."
-- Barry Wilner
Running
Abitova wins Yokohama Women's Marathon
YOKOHAMA, Japan — Russia's Inga Abitova has won the inaugural Yokohama Women's Marathon, a race that featured the top two finishers from the Beijing Olympics.
Abitova broke away from the pack at the 30-kilometer mark Sunday and finished in 2 hours, 27 minutes, 18 seconds. Japan's Kiyoko Shimohara was second at 2:28:51, and Beijing Olympic silver medalist Catherine Ndereba of Kenya was third in 2:29:13.
Olympic champion Constantina Dita dropped out of contention early in the race and finished 11th.
