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American ties Hall Jr., Ervin share gold in 50; Dutchman takes bronze
By Mitch Gelman, CNNSI.com SYDNEY, Australia -- United States swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and Anthony Ervin finished in a dead heat to win gold in the 50-meter freestyle race on Friday night. Hall and Ervin, who train together on a team in Phoenix, swam right next to each other, Hall in lane four and Ervin in lane three. Hall broke first off the blocks and closed fast, while Ervin swam a steady and consistent race. They finished in a time of 21.98. After realizing that they shared the gold, Ervin and Hall hugged and slapped hands while in the pool. Then, they took a victory lap to chants of "U.S.A., U.S.A." from teammates and fans. "I don't mind sharing the gold medal podium," Hall said. "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, a guy I practice with all the time. It was like another a day of practice." Ervin also was thrilled. "We had a tie for the gold medal in the Olympics,' he said. "That makes us the best in the world in no uncertain terms." Ervin told Hall, "It couldn't have ended any better."
The race was only the second gold-medal tie in Olympic swimming history. It also happened in 1984 in the women's 100-meter free when U.S. swimmers Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer were in a dead heat for the gold. Two-time defending Olympic champion, Rusian swimmer Alex Popov finished sixth, and Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband finished third in 22.03. Ervin, 19, who had qualified with the third best time, was a surprise winner. The youngest member of Sprint Team 2000, Ervin is the first swimmer of African-American heritage to compete in an Olympics for the United States. Ervin's father is three-quarters black and his mother is one-quarter Native American. "I don't think of myself as a race," Ervin told NBC in a pre-Games interview. "I hope to be a role model for everybody, black, white or brown." Ervin's role models include boxer Roy Jones Jr., and ironically, Gary Hall. "Training with Gary is the best thing that's ever happened to me," said Ervin. Hall has referred to the University of California sophomore as "one of the fiercest competitors I've ever met."
Both Hall and Ervin train under University of California swim coach Mike Bottom, whose training regimen includes a dietary supplement that the swimmers call "horse bars" because they are energy bars originally created for horses. During introductions at the pool, Hall flexed and threw a right hook to acknowledge cheers from the crowd. His rival, Popov, wearing a white t-shirt emblazoned with his country's name, saluted his fans with a raised right arm. Hall exploded off a sprinter's start and van den Hoogenband and Popov could not catch him. Only Ervin was there at the wall to finish in a stunning dead heat with his fellow U.S. swimmer. For Hall, this victory was sweet revenge against Popov, who edged him for gold in the 50 and the 100 in the Atlanta Games in 1996, and against van den Hoogenband, who won the 100 in Sydney earlier this week. Hall, 25, comes from a family with long ties to swimming. Mark Spitz, an Olympic teammate of Hall's father, was best man at his parents' wedding. In 1976, Gary Hall, Sr., a three-time Olympic swimmer for the United States, who won two silvers and a bronze from 1968 through 1976, carried his son around the pool deck at the Olympics. Twenty years later, the father watched the son win silver medals in the 100-meter and 50-meter freestyle races, losing both to rival Popov. This year, Hall, took on Popov, again, in the 100-meter free, and finished third, .04 seconds behind Popov, who finished second to van den Hoogenband. In the 50-meter freestyle, Hall and Popov and van den Hoogenband met again. While van den Hoogenband came into the race the hottest of the three, the Hall-Popov rivalry continued to capture attention of the swimming community.
Popov had a chance to become the first swimmer to ever win the same race in three consecutive Olympics. Hall wanted to avenge his loss from four years ago, a race in which Popov defeated Hall by .13 seconds. Despite his sixth place finish, Popov still holds the Olympic record for the 50-meter freestyle, 21.91, set in Barcelona in 1992, and the world record, 21.64, set in June, 2000. Coming into the final in Sydney, Hall had the best qualifying time at 22.07 with van den Hoogenband second at 22.11 and Popov checking in at 22.17 in fourth just Ervin, who had qualified with the third best time. After Hall finished third in the 100-meter race on Wednesday, his father was elated. "This was so exciting. So hot," a thrilled Gary Hall, Sr. told CNNSI.com moments after the race. "You have no idea. This was an unbelievable race." On Friday night, Hall, Sr., said: "This was a fairy-tale finish. I knew the kid would do it." These Olympics came after a difficult two years for Hall, who sat out a three-month suspension after testing positive for marijuana use, and then was diagnosed with diabetes and thought that his swimming career was over. A huge smile stretching across his face, Hall clenched both fists above his head when he climbed to the medal stand to collect the bronze after the 100.
After the 50, he seemed more subdued in the water. Smiling and apparently in a bit of shock, Hall and Ervin pulled alongside the lane divider, hugged and congratulated each other on a remarkable ending to the race.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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