ATHENS, Greece - In a move that ticked off voluble sprint star Gary Hall Jr., U.S. swimming coaches have given Michael Phelps his best chance to break Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals: They tentatively reserved a spot for their most touted swimmer in the final of the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Phelps qualified in a record six individual events at the Olympic Trials (he dropped one for competitive reasons). He also made it clear he wanted to swim all three relays at Athens, but at the Trials he skipped the 100 free, which is normally used to determine the pool of swimmers for the 400 relay.
But U.S. coaches were suitably impressed by Phelps' time at a February meet, 49.05 seconds; it would have been good enough for second at the Trials. After a workout Friday, Hall said the spots in Sunday's final would go to Jason Lezak, Ian Crocker and Phelps, plus a swimmer to be determined. "There were no exceptions for anyone else," Hall grumbled. "No one qualified for the Olympic team in February except Michael Phelps."
One scenario could knock Phelps out of the final. The coaches told Hall and the other preliminary-round swimmers, Nate Dusing, Neil Walker and Gabe Woodward, that if two of them swam faster than 48.4 seconds, they would be in and Phelps out.
Hall's personal best is 48.81. Walker's is 48.55. Neither Woodward nor Dusing has broken 49 seconds.
If form holds, only the top swimmer in qualifying is likely to join Lezak, Crocker and Phelps.
Today, the first day of the swimming competition, Phelps is a big favorite to win his first gold medal, in the 400 individual medley.
Hall said U.S. men's coach Eddie Reese was under intense pressure to get Phelps into as many races as possible because he's being hyped as potentially the biggest star in Athens.
Reese was working with his team Friday at a training facility off-limits to the media. He did not return several messages from the Associated Press seeking comment.
BAD NEWS FOR GREECE: It has become the first great scandal of the Games for the host team: On the eve of the Opening Ceremonies, two of its national-hero athletes missed a drug test and then were injured in a motorcycle wreck that put them in the hospital.
Greece's Olympic Committee was scheduled to meet today to discuss the bizarre case of Kostas Kenteris, the defending 200-meter Olympic champion. Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were in the crash Thursday hours after drug testers failed to find them in the Olympic village.
Kenteris and Thanou, the 100-meter silver medalist in Sydney, were due to remain hospitalized over the weekend, so the IOC delayed a Friday hearing. They were in stable condition with cuts and bruises.
Public attention across Greece quickly shifted from how the pageantry of the Opening Ceremonies would be received around the world to a fevered discussion of what Kenteris and Thanou had been up to. Talk radio hosts chatted nonstop about the news, which crowded most other Olympic news off the front pages of Athens's daily papers.
MORE DRUG TEST TROUBLE: A blood doping test on many of the top cyclists had to be canceled Friday when the inspector was not allowed into the Olympic Village because of a problem with his credential, the UCI cycling federation said. Olympic organizers have apologized, UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani said. A similar test now may be held before Wednesday's time trial.
REST NOW, PARTY LATER: About 1,000 of the 10,500 athletes skipped the Opening Ceremonies so they could conserve energy for their competitions. All the American gymnasts were absent. The men compete today in the team qualifications, and the women are up Sunday. Nearly 200 athletes from Australia's 482-member team didn't march.
GYMNASTICS SURPRISE: Mohini Bhardwaj, whose quest to make the U.S. women's team was bankrolled by former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson, was chosen as a surprise all-around candidate Friday. Bhardwaj joins Courtney McCool and co-national champions Courtney Kupets and Carly Patterson in doing all four events in Sunday's team qualifications. The top 24 all-arounders advance to the individual final, but each country is limited to two qualifiers.
IS IT INCLUDED IN THE HAPPY MEAL? Venus Williams, the defending women's singles tennis champion and a budding fashion designer, created a hat for McDonald's employees to wear during the Games.
The oversized, red-twill newsboy cap features abstract designs in black representing Olympic sports. Each has Williams' signature on the inside label.
"I guess it's my first big step, huh? I'm making a name for myself!" she said. "My first designs were more like a baseball cap, more like what you see in the McDonald's stores. But then they came back to me and said no, we want you to do something more creative."
