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De Bruijn record because of false start, claims Alshammar
= = SYDNEY, Sept 23 (AFP) - Therese Alshammar, silver medallist in Saturday's women's 50m freestyle has accused gold medallist Inge de Bruijn of false starting in Friday's semi-finals when the Dutchwoman broke the world record. De Bruijn, 27, added a third gold to her medal tally in Sydney's International Aquatic Centre when she added the 50m title to the 100m freestyle and butterfly events she has already won. But Sweden's European champion Alshammar, 23, who also won silver in Thursday's 100m freestyle behind de Bruijn, believes that the Dutchwoman should not have been in the final at all. "I think she had a false start in the semi-finals. That is what a lot of people are saying," said Alshammar, when questioned about de Bruijn's remarkable performances. "I have no further comment on the rest of her races." De Bruijn, who set world records in the semi-finals en route to each of her titles, and also picked up a silver in the 4x100m free relay, dismissed Alshammar's accusations. "I read that I had the same block time as Amy van Dyken so then she must have done a false start, too," said de Bruijn when told of Alshammar's complaint. "If there was a false start then the judge would have called it back. "I just felt very fast on the reaction so I don't think it was a false start at all." De Bruijn's reaction time in the semi-final was a remarkably quick 0.41sec, exactly half the time it took Alshammar to get off the blocks in 0.82. Most swimmers at the Games have taken between between 0.7sec and 0.8sec to start but de Bruijn, who set a world record time of 24.13sec, got off to a lightning start. Van Dyken also started her semi-final in 0.41sec, while de Bruijn started her final in a less startling time of 0.72sec. De Bruijn has had a remarkable resurgence to her career after pulling out of the Dutch Olympic team for the Atlanta Games four years ago because of lack of motivation. She set three world records at the Games to continue a phenomenal year in which she had already posted eight world marks. "When I set my world records before I thought they were so fast they couldn't be broken anymore but I still broke them, three of them, so the sky is the limit," she said. "I knew that I could do great but I didn't know how great," she said. "I had great confidence in myself. It's easy for outsiders to predict I would would win three gold medals but it's difficult to achieve.
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