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Sinking into farce Aussies dominate Goodwill triathlon, surf lifesaving
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- Australia's swimmers poked some fun at the world on Sunday as the Goodwill Games swim program sunk further into farce. Despite local crowds growing increasingly agitated at the lack of a challenge being put to their swim team by so-called World and European All-Star lineups, Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett -- both world-record holders in freestyle -- decided to have a go at backstroke. The experiment worked. Thorpe led off with the backstroke leg in the winning medley relay. Hackett placed second in the 200 backstroke. But problems plagued the pool. With two races to go in the opening round-robin, the top of the Lane 4 starting block fell into the water at the start of the 200 medley, plunging South African Terence Parkin into the pool. The other swimmers were recalled and the race was restarted after a 15-minute delay. Brazilian Fernando Scherer, the Goodwill Games record holder in the 100-meter freestyle, then was disqualified for leaving the water midway through his 100-meter relay leg thinking he'd set a national record over 50 meters and that he'd qualified for a cash bonus. His time was erased. Eventually, the Australians beat the World team 101-47 to advance undefeated into Monday's rematch for the gold medal. The United States thrashed Europe 103-46 in a replay of the bronze-medal face-off. The Aussies have dominated events containing swimming at these Goodwill Games. Loretta Harrop defended her Goodwill Games title and completed a winning triathlon double for Australia. American Barb Lindquist was second and Australia's Nicole Hackett took bronze. World No. 1 Siri Lindley and fellow American Sheila Taormina placed fourth and fifth and Olympic champion Brigitte McMahon of Switzerland was sixth. Australia's Chris McCormack won the men's triathlon on the same course which comprised of a 1.5-kilometer swim in the Brisbane River, a 40-kilometer cycle leg a 10-kilometer run. He of Hamish Carter and Craig Watson on the run leg to push the New Zealanders into silver and bronze. Australians swamped their opposition as surf lifesaving debuted at a mutlisport international event. Winning 18 of the 24 events contested over two days at Kurrawa Beach, 60-kilometers south of Brisbane, the Australians accumulated 535 points. Next were New Zealand and South Africa, with 428 points apiece, followed by the United States with 389, Britain with 321, France with 299, Canada with 224 and Spain with 205. Germany won three gold medals at cycling, while American Marty Nothstein was fined for a crash that sent four riders to the hospital. Nothstein, the Olympic sprint champion, was fined US$100 Saturday after New Zealand's Hayden Godfrey crashed in the scratch race. He was fined another US$500 Sunday for the crash in the men's elimination race, where he won the bronze medal. But he looked on the bright side. "The fines, it didn't concern me at all -- it's a tax write off," said Nothstein. "That's bicycle racing, crashes happen. There was nothing intentional, but unfortunately someone crashed and I was the one who hit him." Godfrey shared gold with teammate Greg Henderson in the 30-kilometer Madison race. For the Germans, Katrin Meinke won the women's sprint, Rene Wolff won the kieren race and Susan Panzer won the women's 10-kilometer scratch race. Australia's Brett Aitken won the elimination race, avoiding the mid-pack crash by being among the front-runners. Sabina Cojocar gave Romania a sweep of the Goodwill Games all-around gymnastics gold medals as Russia's stars came to grief on the balance beam. Cojocar won the four-event competition after compatriot Marian Dragulescu had taken the men's all-around title Saturday. Carly Patterson, a 13-year-old American, went into her final event, the floor exercises, in second place. She needed 8.9 to win the gold or 8.6 to take a medal, but missed several landings, scored only 7.125 and ended seventh. Cojocar was consistent but not spectacular with marks ranging from 8.962 on the uneven bars to 9.462 on the balance beam, finishing with 36.854 and winning a US$20,000 first prize. Russia's Svetlana Khorkina, the Olympic and Goodwill Games champion on uneven bars, won the silver with 36.617. She had a 9.737 on the bars, but only 8.350 on the balance beam, where she stepped off on her landing. Compatriot Elena Zamolodchikova, Olympic and Goodwill Games champion in floor exercises and the vault, took bronze with 36.312. In beach volleyball quarterfinals, Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede had a 21-12, 21-16 win over China's Xiong Zi and Chi Rong. U.S. pair Barbara Fontana and Elaine Youngs defeated Cuba's Dalixia Fernandez and Tamara Larea Peraza 21-15, 21-18. Americans Rob Heidger and Eric Fonoimoana beat Australian pair Lee Zahner and Julien Prosser 21-17, 26-24, while Brazilians Ricardo Santos and Jose Loiola defeated Russian pair Mikhail Kouchnerev and Sergie Ermishin 18-21, 21-13, 15-11. The U.S. men's basketball lineup arrived at the Brisbane Convention Center to warmup for Monday's opener against Mexico. The Americans rejecting claims by Australian coach Phil Smyth that this U.S. squad was better than the Dream Team that won the Olympic gold in Sydney last September. "Last year's team was a team of all-stars that played at a very high level," U.S coach Flip Saunders said. "Our players play hard, but they're not up to that caliber." After Mexico, the Americans will play Argentina and Cuba. Semifinals and the final are scheduled for next weekend.
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