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By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 21, 2000
Clipping Madame Butterfly's wings
No one could believe it, not even American swimmer Misty Hyman, but Australia's Susie O'Neill finally lost in the 200-meter butterfly. Hyman stunned the crowd, clocking 2:05.88 to win gold as O'Neill, who hadn't lost the event in four years, finished second. Also in the pool, Jenny Thompson led the U.S. 800 freestyle realy team to gold, and the Netherlands' Pieter van den Hoogenband ended the reign of Russia's Alexander Popov in the 100 free.
Norway eliminated China from the women's soccer field. China battled the United States in close losses in the '96 Olympic and '98 World Cup finals, and tied it in pool play last weekend. The Americans advanced to the medal round with a 3-1 victory over Nigeria. "I think it's a shame that a team like China's out of the tournament," U.S. captain Julie Foudy said. "We would have loved to have another shot at them."
With breathtaking precision, Russia's Alexei Nemov mastered nearly every apparatus, suffering only a slight stumble on the vault during his march to the men's all-around gold. "Destiny was on my side," he said. "God was on my side, so I ended with a gold."
Too many Americans
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released medals leaders per-capita, citing Australia, Slovakia, Estonia, Switzerland and Costa Rica as the leaders.
Sydney is 15 hours ahead of Tampa Bay, so as most people read their morning paper, today's events are wrapping up in Australia. We have converted schedules and other references to Tampa Bay time. For the latest results, check the Times Web site at http://www.sptimes.com
First drink of the day