Zhao and Liu deliver more gold for China
Print Edition
China added two gold medals and one silver to its haul at the World Swimming Championships on Thursday in Barcelona, Spain.
Zhao Jing won gold in the women’s 50m backstroke, a non-Olympic event, while Liu Zige added another in the women’s 200m butterfly.
Zhao, who set the world record of 27.06 seconds when she won the title in Rome in 2009, clocked 27.29 with teenage compatriot Fu Yuanhui taking silver in 27.39 and Aya Terakawa of Japan bronze in 27.53.
Liu is the world record holder in the 200m butterfly, which she set in 2009. She gained some revenge for her third place finish at the last world championships in Shanghai two years ago. She clocked a time of 2:04.59 seconds for gold in Barcelona.
Spain’s Mireia Belmote Garcia, Olympic silver medalist in London last year, and roared on by the home crowd at the Palau Sant Jordi, claimed silver in 2:04.78 and Katinka Hosszu of Hungary grabbed bronze in 2:05.59.
In other events, James Magnussen and Ryan Lochte are back on top while Missy Franklin and Katie Ledekcy just keep on winning.
Magnussen, known as “The Missile” and viewed as a flop despite a silver medal at the London Olympics, rallied to win the 100m freestyle with a furious finishing kick, edging Americans Jimmy Feigen and Nathan Adrian.
After a disappointing start to the meet, Lochte looked more like himself on Thursday night, pulling away to win the 200m individual medley and claim the 13th world championship gold of his career and 21st medal overall.
The Americans came through in the final event of the night, with Franklin and Ledecky leading the US team to victory in the 4x200m free relay.
Ledecky put the Americans ahead at the start, and Franklin zipped away with a dominant anchor leg to win in 7 minutes, 45.14 seconds.
Australia settled for silver in 7:47.08, while France took the bronze in 7:48.43. China just missed out on a medal with a fourth-place finish.
The 18-year-old Franklin now has four golds from as many events in Barcelona, with three to go. Ledecky, only 16 and getting ready for her junior year of high school, has three golds from three events with one race left.
No matter what, they will go down as two of the biggest stars of this meet.
Lochte barely celebrated after his race, letting out a deep breath as he squinted to see his winning time — 1 minute, 54.98 seconds. Japan’s Kosuke Hagino claimed the silver, more than a second behind, and Brazil’s Thiago Pereira took bronze.
Magnussen was much more animated after winning the sport’s glamour event — a victory he was denied last summer. The Australian hopped on the lane rope, flexing his muscles while fans from Down Under shouted “Oi! Oi! Oi!”
“It was really emotional,” Magnussen said. “That last sort of 15 meters I really used the last 12 months of experiences that I’ve gone through, and I was really aggressive toward the wall at the end. I’m just stoked that I got there.”
Magnussen was nearly a second off the pace at the turn, but he powered through the water on the return lap to win in 47.71. Feigen also relied on a strong finish to get the silver in 47.82, leaving Adrian to settle for the bronze at 47.84.
Adrian knew it would be hard to hold off Magnussen.
“He’s just an incredible competitor, and he’s actually brought an entire new level to the 100 freestyle,” Adrian said. “So it’s a bummer, because without him we would be 1-2, but it’s a good thing for the sport. It’s exciting moving forward.”
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