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Clock's ticking Thompson's chance at individual gold grows shorter
SYDNEY, Australia -- During Sunday morning's session at the Sydney International Aquatics Center, U.S. women's swim coach Richard Quick had pondered the women's 100 butterfly field that would be on the starting blocks later that night and deemed it the best 100 fly field ever assembled. Aside from his swimmers -- comeback queen Dara Torres and former world-record holder Jenny Thompson -- it had featured Australia's Petria Thomas and Slovakia's Martina Marovcova, who owned the fifth- and seventh-fastest times in history, and the Netherlands' phenomenal Inge de Bruijn, who recently broke, among other world records, Thompson's four-month-old mark in the event. "It's going to be a terrific race," said Quick. "But for anyone to have a chance against Inge, they'll have to be with her with 20 meters to go, and that's a chore." It was too much of a chore for Thompson, who was just a tenth of a second behind de Bruijn at the turn and then bonked around the 80-meter mark to finish in 58.73. She wound up fifth, behind De Bruijn -- who set a blazing world record of 56.61 -- Moravcova, and Torres, a four-time Olympian who won the bronze, her first individual Olympic medal.
Quick said later that Thompson's only chance would have been to go keep with de Bruijn for the first 50, to make her uncomfortable. But Thompson paid the price for that strategy on the return trip. "I think I just wanted it a little too much," said Thompson. "I felt good, I felt confident. What's most disappointing is that I know there's a better time in me." Thompson, who became the most gilded U.S. female athlete last Saturday night with a world record win in the 4x100 freestyle relay, her sixth gold medal, is still seeking her first individual gold. Her last chance is in the 100 free, the finals of which will be held on Thursday night. Her biggest competition in that race will be, of course, de Bruijn, whose best time is .68 seconds faster than Thompson's. But Thompson seems undaunted. "I'll be back," she said. "I just have to remember not to make this [loss] bigger than it is."
SI For Women writer Kelli Anderson is in Sydney covering the Games for the magazine and CNNSI.com. Check back daily to read Anderson's behind-the-scenes reports from Down Under.
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