Franklin wins gold, Ledecky smashes world record, Lochte misses podium at world swimming championships

By Jul 30, 2013, 11:47 AM EDT
Missy Franklin
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The U.S. swim team collected six medals at the world championships Tuesday, including titles from Missy Franklin, Katie Ledecky in world-record time and Matt Grevers, but Ryan Lochte was not part of the haul.

Franklin, the four-time 2012 Olympic champion, looked smooth handling two swims in Barcelona. She won the 100-meter backstroke, as expected, for her second gold in her second event at worlds. She’s expected to swim eight total, including the 200 freestyle, where she placed second in the semifinals to qualify easily for Wednesday’s final.

Ledecky, 16, won her second gold as well en route to what could be a four-gold week in Barcelona. She erased the oldest swimming world record, Kate Ziegler‘s 1,500-meter mark from 2007, by six seconds in one of the most impressive swims in world championships history. She adds the 1,500 title to a 400 title from Sunday. The 800, where she won the Olympic title, and the 4×200 free relay are still to come.

Grevers and David Plummer gave the U.S. a gold-silver finish in the 100 backstroke. Grevers had won the Olympic title in the event in London, while Plummer didn’t even make the Olympic team in 2012.

All of those medals came after Lochte finished fourth in the 200 freestyle to start the night. Lochte, the 2011 world champion in the event, was pushed off the podium by U.S. teammate Conor Dwyer, who came back from fifth in the final 50 to nab silver behind Olympic champion Yannick Agnel. Lochte, who won silver as part of the 4×100 free relay Sunday, has a planned five more events to go.

Jessica Hardy won the final U.S. medal of the night, bronze in the 100 breaststroke. That event was won by super favorite and Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, who broke Hardy’s world record in Monday’s semifinals.

Scroll down for full results, analysis and videos of Tuesday’s events.

NBC, Universal Sports broadcast schedule | Live results
Photos: Swimming on world newspaper front pages Tuesday

Men’s 200 Freestyle Final

Results
Gold: Yannick Agnel (FRA) 1:44.20
Silver: Conor Dwyer (USA) 1:45.32
Bronze: Danila Izotov (RUS) 1:45.59
4. Ryan Lochte (USA) 1:45.64
5. Kosuke Hagino (JPN) 1:45.94
6. Robbie Renwick (GBR) 1:46.52
7. Cameron McEvoy (AUS) 1:46.63
8. Thomas Fraser-Holmes (AUS) 1:47.11

Summary
Agnel, the Olympic champion, led at 50.64 after 100 with Lochte in third. Agnel was up by nearly 1.5 seconds at 150 with Izotov and Lochte in line for second and third. But Dwyer came from behind to surprisingly keep Lochte, the defending world champ, from medaling. Agnel is coached by Michael Phelps‘ former coach, Bob Bowman. Dwyer, 24, wins the first individual major international medal of his career. Lochte, who wore lime green sneakers in his walk out to the deck, is scheduled for five more events in Barcelona. He swims in the 200 individual medley prelims Wednesday morning and semifinals Wednesday evening.

“I just tried to hit my last turn,” Dwyer told Universal Sports. “Michael (Phelps?) was texting me yesterday, ‘Stop taking it out like a little girl.”

Women’s 100 Backstroke Final

Results
Gold: Missy Franklin (USA) 58.42
Silver: Emily Seebohm (AUS) 59.06
Bronze: Aya Terakawa (JPN) 59.23
4. Elizabeth Pelton (USA) 59.45
5. Fu Yuanhui (CHN) 59.61
6. Simona Baumrtova (CZE) 59.84
7. Daryna Zevina (UKR) 1:00.16
8. Belinda Hocking (AUS) 1:00.29

Summary
Franklin,  missed the world record by three tenths of a second with the fastest time in the world this year. There was little doubt she would win this event coming in. She’s now two for two in golds with the 200 freestyle semifinals coming in an hour. She has a Phelps-like eight events planned at this meet. The silver and bronze medalists were the same as in London.

Men’s 50 Breaststroke Semifinals

Advance To Final
1. Cameron van der Burgh (RSA) 26.81
2. Damir Dugonjic (SLO) 26.83
3. Joao Gomes (BRA) 27.05
4. Christian Sprenger (AUS) 27.10
5. Johannes Skagius (SWE) 27.16
6. Glenn Snyders (NZL) 27.22
7. Mattia Pesce (ITA) 27.42
8. Giulio Zorzi (RSA) 27.44

Summary
Van der Burgh came close to his world record set during the suit era of 26.67. He’s the Olympic champion in the 100 breast, silver medalist in the 100 breast Monday and the 2011 world bronze medalist in the 50. Consider him the favorite for gold Wednesday. Dugonjic won the first semi after qualifying 11th out of prelims. Sprenger, the 100 breast world champion, is also a medal contender. The 100 breast bronze medalist and second qualifier out of prelims, Felipe Lima of Brazil, failed to make the final.

Women’s 1,500 Freestyle Final

Results
Gold: Katie Ledecky (USA) 15:36.53 WR
Silver: Lotte Friis (DEN) 15:38.88
Bronze: Lauren Boyle (NZL) 15:44.71
4. Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP) 15:58.83
5. Xu Danlu (CHN) 16:00.44
6. Kristel Kobrich Schimpl (CHI) 16:01.94
7. Boglarka Kapas (HUN) 16:06.89
8. Chloe Sutton (USA) 16:09.65

Summary
Ledecky, 16, takes the oldest world record (Kate Ziegler, 2007) off the books by more than six seconds after a memorable duel with Friis, the 2011 world champion. Ledecky is now two for two in golds with a great chance of going four for four in golds with the 800 free and 4×200 free relay left, assuming she’s part of that relay.

Men’s 100 Backstroke Final

Results
Gold: Matt Grevers (USA) 52.93
Silver: David Plummer (USA) 53.12
Bronze: Jeremy Stravius (FRA) 53.21
4. Ryosuke Irie (JPN) 53.29
5. Camille Lacourt (FRA) 53.51
6. Ashley Delaney (AUS) 53.55
7. Kosuke Hagino (JPN) 53.93
8. Gareth Kean (NZL) 54.25

Summary
Stravius had a .03 lead on the Olympic champion Grevers at the 100-meter turn. Plummer, third at the Olympic trials and the 2013 U.S. champion, came back from outside the top three at the turn for silver. Grevers joins Jeff Rouse, Lenny Krayzelburg and Aaron Peirsol as American men to win Olympic and world titles in the 100 back. Stravius and Lacourt were the co-2011 world champions.

Women’s 200 Freestyle Semifinals

Advance To Final
1. Federica Pellegrini (ITA) 1:55.78
2. Missy Franklin (USA) 1:56.05
3. Melanie Costa (ESP) 1:56.19
4. Camille Muffatt (FRA) 1:56.28
5. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 1:56.38
6. Kylie Palmer (AUS) 1:56.53
7. Charlotte Bonnet (FRA) 1:56.63
8. Shannon Vreeland (USA) 1:56.76

Summary
Great swim by Franklin a little over an hour after 100 backstroke final to easily qualify into a deep 200 free final. Pellegrini is the two-time defending world champion and world-record holder. Franklin should be considered the favorite Wednesday, even though Muffat, the Olympic silver medalist, still owns the fastest time of 2013. Vreeland swam a personal best by a second to knock Katinka Hosszu, the 200 individual medley champion, out of the final.

“There’s still so much room for improvement,” Franklin said of her freestyle stroke to Universal Sports.

Men’s 200 Butterfly Semifinals

Advance To Final
1. Chad le Clos (RSA) 1:55.33
2. Wu Peng (CHN) 1:55.42
3. Pawel Korzeniowski (POL) 1:55.67
4. Tyler Clary (USA) 1:55.97
4. Chen Yin (CHN) 1:55.97
6. Nikolay Skvortsov (RUS) 1:56.02
7. Leonardo De Deus (BRA) 1:56.06
8. Tom Luchsinger (USA) 1:56.10

Summary
The retired Michael Phelps won every world title in this event since 2005 (when he didn’t swim it at worlds). The new era was ushered in at the Olympics with le Clos winning gold, and he goes into the final as the favorite even though Korzeniowski still owns the fastest time in the world this year. Korzeniowski was the 2005 world champion. Clary owns four overall Olympic and world medals, but none in the butterfly. The final could be unpredictable given the entire field is within eight tenths of a second of each other.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke Final

Results
Gold: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) 1:04.42
Silver: Yuliya Efimova (RUS) 1:05.02
Bronze: Jessica Hardy (USA) 1:05.52
4. Rikke Pedersen (DEN) 1:05.93
5. Breeja Larson (USA) 1:06.74
6. Viktoriya Solntseva (UKR) 1:06.81
7. Marina Garcia (ESP) 1:07.08
8. Jennie Johansson (SWE) 1:07.41

Summary
No world record this time for the Lithuanian 16-year-old, who broke Hardy’s world mark in the semifinals Tuesday. She adds the world title to her Olympic gold in 2012. Efimova, fourth at 2011 worlds, was expected to win silver and followed through. Hardy wins her first individual medal in this event since a 2005 silver.

Photos: Swimmers make global newspaper front pages Tuesday

Ilia Malinin eyed new heights at figure skating worlds, but a jump to gold requires more

By Mar 25, 2023, 1:10 PM EDT
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At 18 years old, Ilia Malinin already has reached immortality in figure skating for technical achievement, being the first to land a quadruple Axel jump in competition.

The self-styled “Quadg0d” already has shown the chutzpah (or hubris?) to go for the most technically difficult free skate program ever attempted at the world championships, including that quad Axel, the hardest jump anyone has tried.

It helped bring U.S. champion Malinin the world bronze medal Saturday in Saitama, Japan, where he made more history as the first to land the quad Axel at worlds.

But it already had him thinking that the way to reach the tops of both the worlds and Olympus might be to acknowledge his mortal limits.

Yes, if Malinin (288.44 points) had cleanly landed all six quads he did instead of going clean on just three of the six, it would have closed or even overcome the gap between him and repeat champion Shoma Uno of Japan (301.14) and surprise silver medalist Cha Jun-Hwan (296.03), the first South Korean man to win a world medal.

That’s a big if, as no one ever has done six clean quads in a free skate.

And the energy needed for those quads, physical and mental, hurts Malinin’s chances of closing another big gap with the world leaders: the difference in their “artistic” marks, known as component scores.

Malinin’s technical scores led the field in both the short program and free skate. But his component scores were lower than at last year’s worlds, when he finished ninth, and they ranked 10th in the short program and 11th in the free this time. Uno had an 18.44-point overall advantage over Malinin in PCS, Cha a 13.47 advantage.

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Chock, Bates, and a long road to gold | Results

As usual in figure skating, some of the PCS difference owes to the idea of paying your dues. After all, at his first world championships, eventual Olympic champion Nathan Chen had PCS scores only slightly better than Malinin’s, and Chen’s numbers improved substantially by the next season.

But credit Malinin for quickly grasping the reality that his current skating has a lot of rough edges on the performance side.

“I’ve noticed that it’s really hard to go for a lot of risks,” he said in answer to a press conference question about what he had learned from this competition. “Sometimes going for the risks you get really good rewards, but I think that maybe sometimes it’s OK to lower the risks and go for a lot cleaner skate. I think it will be beneficial next season to lower the standards a bit.”

So could it be “been-there, done-that” with the quad Axel? (and the talk of quints and quad-quad combinations?)

Saturday’s was his fourth clean quad Axel in seven attempts this season, but it got substantially the lowest grade of execution (0.36) of the four with positive marks. It was his opening jump in the four-minute free, and, after a stopped-in-your tracks landing, his next two quads, flip and Lutz, were both badly flawed.

And there were still some three minutes to go.

Malinin did not directly answer about letting the quad Axel go now that he has definitively proved he can do it. What he did say could be seen as hinting at it.

“With the whole components factor … it’s probably because you know, after doing a lot of these jumps, (which) are difficult jumps, it’s really hard to try to perform for the audience,” he said.

“Even though some people might enjoy jumping, and it’s one of the things I enjoy, but I also like to perform to the audience. So I think next season, I would really want to focus on this performing side.”

Chen had told me essentially the same thing for a 2017 Ice Network story (reposted last year by NBCOlympics.com) about his several years of ballet training. He regretted not being able to show that training more because of the program-consuming athletic demands that come with being an elite figure skater.

“When I watch my skating when I was younger, I definitely see all this balletic movement and this artistry come through,” Chen said then. “When I watch my artistry now, it’s like, ‘Yes, it’s still there,’ but at the same time, I’m so focused on the jumps, it takes away from it.”

The artistry can still be developed and displayed, as Chen showed and as prolific and proficient quad jumpers like Uno and the now retired two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan have proved.

For another perspective on how hard it is to combine both, look at the difficulty it posed for the consummate performer, Jason Brown, who had the highest PCS scores while finishing a strong fifth (280.84).

Since Brown dropped his Sisyphean attempts to do a clean quad after 26 tries (20 in a free skate), the last at the 2022 U.S. Championships, he has received the two highest international free skate scores of his career, at the 2022 Olympics and this world meet.

It meant Brown’s coming to terms with his limitations and the fact that in the sport’s current iteration, his lack of quads gives him little chance of winning a global championship medal. What he did instead was give people the chance to see the beauty of his blade work, his striking movement, his expressiveness.

He has, at 28, become an audience favorite more than ever. And the judges Saturday gave Brown six maximum PCS scores (10.0.)

“I’m so happy about today’s performance,” Brown told media in the mixed zone. “I did my best to go out there and skate my skate. And that’s what I did.”

The quadg0d is realizing that he, too, must accept limitations if he wants to achieve his goals. Ilia Malinin can’t simply jump his way onto the highest steps of the most prized podiums.

Philip Hersh, who has covered figure skating at the last 12 Winter Olympics, is a special contributor to NBCSports.com.

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Shoma Uno repeats as world figure skating champion; Ilia Malinin tries 6 quads for bronze

By Mar 25, 2023, 10:47 AM EDT
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Japan’s Shoma Uno repeated as world figure skating champion, performing the total package of jumps and artistry immediately after 18-year-old American Ilia Malinin attempted a record-tying six quadruple jumps in his free skate to earn the bronze medal.

Uno, 25 and the leader after Thursday’s short program, prevailed with five quad attempts (one under-rotated) in Saturday’s free skate.

He finished, fell backward and lay on home ice in Saitama, soaking in a standing ovation amid a sea of Japanese flags. Japan won three of the four gold medals this week, and Uno capped it off with guts coming off a reported ankle injury.

He is the face of Japanese men’s skating after two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu retired in July and Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama missed most of this season with leg and ankle injuries.

“There were many shaky jumps today, but I’m happy I was able to get a good result despite not being in a good condition these past two weeks,” Uno said, according to the International Skating Union (ISU). “I know I caused a lot of concerns to everyone around me, but I was able to pay them back and show my gratitude with my performance today.”

Silver medalist Cha Jun-Hwan became the first South Korean man to win a world championships medal. Cha, a 21-year-old who was fifth at the Olympics, had to change out broken skate boots before traveling to Japan, one year after withdrawing from worlds after a 17th-place short program, citing a broken skate boot.

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Results

Malinin, ninth in his senior worlds debut last year, planned the most difficult program of jumps in figure skating history — six quads, including a quad Axel. Malinin is the only person to land a quad Axel in competition and did so again Saturday. He still finished 12.7 points behind Uno and 7.59 behind Cha.

Malinin had the top technical score (jumps, spins, step sequences) in both programs, despite an under-rotation and two other negatively graded jumps among his seven jumping passes in the free skate.

His nemesis was the artistic score, placing 10th and 11th in that category in the two programs (18.44 points behind Uno). Unsurprising for the only teen in the top 13, who is still working on that facet of his skating, much like a young Nathan Chen several years ago.

“After doing a lot of these jumps — hard, difficult jumps — it’s really hard to try to perform for the audience,” said Malinin, who entered worlds ranked second in the field by best score this season behind Uno.

Chen, who is unlikely to compete again after winning last year’s Olympics, remains the lone skater to land six fully rotated quads in one program (though not all clean). Malinin became the youngest U.S. male singles skater to win a world medal since Scott Allen in 1965. He was proud of his performance, upping the ante after previously trying five quads in free skates this season, but afterward weighed whether the risk was worth it.

“Sometimes going for the risk, you get really good rewards, but I think that maybe sometimes it’s OK to lower the risks and try not to take as much risk and go for a lot cleaner skate,” he said. “I think that’ll be beneficial to do next season is to lower the standards a bit.”

Malinin was followed by Frenchman Kévin Aymoz, who before the pandemic was the world’s third-ranked skater behind Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu, then placed ninth, 11th and 12th at the last three global championships.

Jason Brown, a two-time U.S. Olympian, was fifth in his first international competition since last year’s Olympics. He was the lone man in the top 15 to not attempt a quad, a testament to his incredible artistic skills for which he received the most points between the two programs.

“I didn’t think at the beginning of the year that I even would be competing this year, so I’m really touched to be here,” the 28-year-old said, according to the ISU. “I still want to keep going [competing] a little longer, but we’ll see. I won’t do promises.”

Earlier Saturday, Madison Chock and Evan Bates became the oldest couple to win an ice dance world title and the second set of Americans to do so. More on that here.

World championships highlights air Saturday from 8-10 p.m. ET on NBC, NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app.

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