Swimming Event: Venue: National Aquatics Center
Michael Phelps sets the world record while winning the 200 m Men's freestyle. Phelps moves into a tie for the most gold medals for an athlete.
Michael Phelps during the competition. (Thank you and credits to Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Michael Phelps is the winner of 200 m Men's freestyle. (Thank you and credits to Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Michael Phelps waves to the spectators. (Thank you and credist: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
The Men's 200m Freestyle final was held at the National Aquatics Center on day four of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 12, 2008 in Beijing, China. Michael Phelps of the United States finished the race in first place in a time of 1:42.96 to win the gold medal, setting a new world record in the process. Park Tae-hwan of Republic of Korea won the silver medal. The bronze medal went to American Peter Vanderkaay.
(L-R) Park Taehwan, Michael Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay (Thank you and credits: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
BEIJING, August 12, 2008 - Michael Phelps (USA) continued his quest for eight gold medals today with yet another world record win in the Men's 200m Freestyle final. Phelps beat his old world record time of 1:43.86, clocking 1:42.96.
Touching in second to break the Asian Record was Park Tae-hwan of the Republic of Korea with a time of 1:44.85. The bronze medal went to American Peter Vanderkaay at 1:45.14.
Phelps has also set world record times in the 400m Individual Medley and the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay.
Swimming events:Event: Men's 200 m freestyle
Competitor: Michael Phelps
Country: United States
New World Record (WR)
Event: Women's 100 m backstroke
Competitor: Natalie Coughlin
Country: United States
Event: Men's 100 m backstroke
Competitor: Aaron Peirsol
United States
New World Record (WR)
Women's 100 m breaststroke
Event: Women's 100 m breaststroke
Leisel Jones
Country: Australia
(OR)
Michael Fred Phelps, Aaron Peirsol,Leisel Jones and Natalie Coughlin's Proflie/Biography:Full name: Michael Fred Phelps
Nickname(s): MP
Nationality: United States
Stroke(s): Butterfly, Individual Medley, Freestyle, Backstroke
Club: Club Wolverine,
University of Michigan
Date of birth: June 30, 1985 (1985-06-30) (age 23)
Place of birth: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight: 195 pounds (88 kg)
Full name: Natalie Anne Coughlin
Nationality: United States
Date of birth: August 23, 1982 (1982-08-23) (age 25)
Place of birth: Vallejo, California, United States
Height: 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Full name: Aaron Peirsol
Nationality: United States
Stroke(s): Backstroke
Date of birth: July 23, 1983 (1983-07-23) (age 25)
Place of birth: Irvine, California, United States
Height: 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Full name: Leisel Marie Jones
Nationality: Australia
Stroke(s): Breaststroke
Club: Melbourne Vicentre
Date of birth: August 30, 1985 (1985-08-30) (age 22)
Place of birth: Katherine, Northern Territory
Height: 173 cm
Weight: 66 kg
(L-R) Wang Xin and Chen Ruolin receive the gold medal. (Thank you and credits to Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Beijing - August 12,2008: Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin won gold in Synchronized Women's 10m Platform with 363.54 points at National Aquatics Center to give China its third Diving gold in three days. Briony Cole and Melissa Wu of Australia finished second, while Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz won Mexico's first medal of the Beijing Olympic Games by placing third.
Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin compete in Synchronized Women's 10m Platform (Thank you and credits to: Xinhua)
The Chinese teenagers were the highest ranked pair in each of the five dives, building a nearly insurmountable 25.32 point lead after the fourth dive. Their superb 90.78 point final dive widened their winning margin to 28.38 over second place Australia. The reigning world champions were competing in the Olympics for the first time.
Cole and Wu of Australia started the competition in a tie for third but pulled into second place after the third dive. A bad entry on the fourth dive gave Mexico an opening to steal silver, but the Australian pair recovered on their final dive with a 87.72-point score that clinched their second-place finish. Cole and Wu also finished second behind their Chinese opponents at the 2007 World Championships.
Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz have the honor of winning Mexico's first medal of the 2008 Olympics and the 10th diving medal in the nation's Olympic history. Espinosa finished fifth in Athens in Synchronized 3m Springboard and Synchronized 10m Platform. She also competed in Sydney, finishing 12th in the two Individual Women's events.
Chen and Wang will also take part in the Individual Women's 10m Platform competition, in which they are ranked World No. 1 and 2. The event is scheduled to start on August 19 and end on August 21.
Synchronized Women's 10m Platform, final standings:
1. China -- Wang Xin and Chen Ruolin, 363.54 points
2. Australia -- Briony Cole and Melissa Wu, 335.16
3. Mexico -- Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz, 330.06
4. Germany -- Annett Gamm and Nora Subschinski, 310.29
5. The United States -- Marybeth Dunnichay and Ishimatsu Haley, 309.12
6. Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- Kum Hui Choe and Un Hyang Kim, 308.10
7. Canada -- Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, 305.91
8. Great Britain -- Tonia Couch and Stacie Powell, 303.48
(Thank you and credits to http://en.beijing2008.cn and http://en.wikipedia.org for the information and picture)