Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin 4th in 100 free, win Pan Pacs relay golds

By Nick ZaccardiAug 22, 2014, 11:32 AM EDT

Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin didn’t win individual medals at the Pan Pacific Championships on Friday, but they were part of U.S. relay victories.

Phelps, in his first international meet since the London Olympics, and Franklin, swimming three days after being helped off the pool deck with back spasms, were both fourth in 100m freestyle finals won by Aussies in rainy Gold Coast, Australia.

They were part of a U.S. 4x200m free relay sweep, though.

“Being able to get back on the podium — it feels amazing,” Phelps said, according to The Associated Press. “It’s a good first day. Good first international meet back. There’s no better way to finish this, lovely, rainy night then being able to step up with your teammates and win a gold medal.”

Phelps clocked 48.51 seconds in the 100m free final, an event he doesn’t usually contest at major international meets. He finished behind Australian national champion Cameron McEvoy (47.82), U.S. Olympic champion Nathan Adrian (48.30) and Australian World champion James Magnussen (48.36).

The men’s 100m free was billed as a marquee race at the four-day meet. Adrian and Magnussen, separated by .01 at the Olympics, were expected to vie for the gold.

“I’m not surprised that [McEvoy] won,” Adrian told reporters in Gold Coast. “I’m a little surprised that I went a little slow. … It’s silly to think that it’s just going to be James and I winning every time. … It’s definitely not a two-man game anymore.”

Phelps came back with Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Matt McLean to barely win the 4x200m free relay over Japan, by .13. The Japanese lead after each of the first three legs before McLean edged ahead on anchor.

Franklin went 53.87 in the women’s 100m free, won by Australian World champion Cate Campbell in 52.72. Campbell’s winning margin, over her silver medalist sister, was a cushioned .73. American Simone Manuel took bronze.

Franklin joined Katie Ledecky, Shannon Vreeland and Leah Smith to capture the 4x200m free relay by 1.07 seconds over Australia.

“I think we take a lot of ownership with this event,” Franklin said. “They’re not something we like to lose.”

Ledecky, the 200m and 800m free gold medalist Thursday, erased a 1.2-second deficit on the anchor leg for the comeback win.

“I knew I had to sort of think of it as my individual race and not swim it too fast in the first 100,” Ledecky said.

NBC and NBC Sports Live Extra will have Pan Pacs coverage Saturday from 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET and Sunday from 1-2:30.

Pan Pacs are not only the biggest meet for U.S. and Australian swimmers this year, but times from Pan Pacs and the U.S. Championships will also determine the U.S. team for the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia.

Phelps may have missed the 100m free medals, but he earned a spot on the 2015 Worlds team as the second fastest American behind Adrian. Franklin, too, can swim the 100m free at Worlds, with Manuel.

In other events, U.S. Olympians Jessica Hardy and Elizabeth Beisel won the 100m breast and 400m individual medley, respectively.

Japan notched wins in the men’s 100m breast (Yasuhiro Koseki) and men’s 400m IM (Kosuke Hagino).

American Kevin Cordes was the top qualifier into the 100m breast final but was disqualified after he appeared to try to take off his goggles during the final, likely because they filled with water.

What an agonizingly tough break for @KwCordes in the 100 breast. And he still went 1:00.1 pic.twitter.com/I1C5flkFiZ

— Rowdy Gaines (@RowdyGaines) August 22, 2014

Men’s 100m Free
1. Cameron McEvoy (AUS) 47.82
2. Nathan Adrian (USA) 48.30
3. James Magnussen (AUS) 48.36
4. Michael Phelps (USA) 48.51

Women’s 100m Free
1. Cate Campbell (AUS) 52.72
2. Bronte Campbell (AUS) 53.45
3. Simone Manuel (USA) 53.71
4. Missy Franklin (USA) 53.87

Men’s 100m Breast
1. Yasuhiro Koseki (JPN) 59.62
2. Felipe Silva (BRA) 59.82
3. Glenn Snyders (NZL) 1:00.18
DQ. Kevin Cordes (USA)

Women’s 100m Breast
1. Jessica Hardy (USA) 1:06.74
2. Kanako Watanabe (JPN) 1:06.78
3. Breeja Larson (USA) 1:06.99

Men’s 400m IM
1. Kosuke Hagino (JPN) 4:08.31
2. Tyler Clary (USA) 4:09.03
3. Chase Kalisz (USA) 4:09.62

Women’s 400m IM
1. Elizabeth Beisel (USA) 4:31.99
2. Maya DiRado (USA) 4:35.37
3. Keryn McMaster (AUS) 4:38.84

Men’s 4x200m Free Relay
1. USA 7:05.17
2. Japan 7:05.30
3. Australia 7:08.55

Women’s 4x200m Free Relay
1. USA 7:46.40
2. Australia 7:47.47
3. Canada 7:58.03

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Football takes significant step in Olympic push

By OlympicTalkMar 29, 2023, 2:18 PM EDT

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Football took another step toward possible Olympic inclusion with the IOC executive board proposing that the sport’s international federation — the IFAF — be granted full IOC recognition at a meeting in October.

IOC recognition does not equate to eventual Olympic inclusion, but it is a necessary early marker if a sport is to join the Olympics down the line. The IOC gave the IFAF provisional recognition in 2013.

Specific measures are required for IOC recognition, including having an anti-doping policy compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency and having 50 affiliated national federations from at least three continents. The IFAF has 74 national federations over five continents with almost 4.8 million registered athletes, according to the IOC.

The NFL has helped lead the push for flag football to be added for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Flag football had medal events for men and women at last year’s World Games, a multi-sport competition including Olympic and non-Olympic sports, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Football is one of nine sports that have been reported to be in the running to be proposed by LA 2028 to the IOC to be added for the 2028 Games only. LA 2028 has not announced which, if any sports, it plans to propose.

Under rules instituted before the Tokyo Games, Olympic hosts have successfully proposed to the IOC adding sports solely for their edition of the Games.

For Tokyo, baseball-softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were added. For Paris, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were approved again, and breaking will make its Olympic debut. Those sports were added four years out from the Games.

For 2028, the other sports reportedly in the running for proposal are baseball and softball, breaking, cricket, karate, kickboxing, lacrosse, motorsports and squash.

All of the other eight sports reportedly in the running for 2028 proposal already have a federation with full IOC recognition (if one counts the international motorcycle racing federation for motorsports).

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Helen Maroulis stars in wrestling documentary, with help from Chris Pratt

By Nick ZaccardiMar 29, 2023, 10:05 AM EDT

Getty

One of the remarkable recent Olympic comeback stories is the subject of a film that will be shown nationwide in theaters for one day only on Thursday.

“Helen | Believe” is a documentary about Helen Maroulis, the first U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling champion. It is produced by Religion of Sports, the venture founded by Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan and Tom Brady. Showing details are here.

After taking gold at the 2016 Rio Games, Maroulis briefly retired in 2019 during a two-year stretch in which she dealt with concussions and post-traumatic stress disorder. The film focuses on that period and her successful bid to return and qualify for the Tokyo Games, where she took bronze.

In a poignant moment in the film, Maroulis described her “rock bottom” — being hospitalized for suicidal ideations.

In an interview, Maroulis said she was first approached about the project in 2018, the same year she had her first life-changing concussion that January. A wrestling partner’s mother was connected to director Dylan Mulick.

Maroulis agreed to the film in part to help spread mental health awareness in sports. Later, she cried while watching the 2020 HBO film, “The Weight of Gold,” on the mental health challenges that other Olympians faced, because it resonated with her so much.

“When you’re going through something, it sometimes gives you an anchor of hope to know that someone’s been through it before, and they’ve overcome it,” she said.

Maroulis’ comeback story hit a crossroads at the Olympic trials in April 2021, where the winner of a best-of-three finals series in each weight class made Team USA.

Maroulis won the opening match against Jenna Burkert, but then lost the second match. Statistically, a wrestler who loses the second match in a best-of-three series usually loses the third. But Maroulis pinned Burkert just 22 seconds into the rubber match to clinch the Olympic spot.

Shen then revealed that she tore an MCL two weeks earlier.

“They told me I would have to be in a brace for six weeks,” she said then. “I said, ‘I don’t have that. I have two and a half.’”

Maroulis said she later asked the director what would have happened if she didn’t make the team for Tokyo. She was told the film still have been done.

“He had mentioned this isn’t about a sports story or sports comeback story,” Maroulis said. “This is about a human story. And we’re using wrestling as the vehicle to tell this story of overcoming and healing and rediscovering oneself.”

Maroulis said she was told that, during filming, the project was pitched to the production company of actor Chris Pratt, who wrestled in high school in Washington. Pratt signed on as a producer.

“Wrestling has made an impact on his life, and so he wants to support these kinds of stories,” said Maroulis, who appeared at last month’s Santa Barbara Film Festival with Pratt.

Pratt said he knew about Maroulis before learning about the film, which he said “needed a little help to get it over the finish line,” according to a public relations company promoting the film.

The film also highlights the rest of the six-woman U.S. Olympic wrestling team in Tokyo. Four of the six won a medal, including Tamyra Mensah-Stock‘s gold.

“I was excited to be part of, not just (Maroulis’) incredible story, but also helping to further advance wrestling and, in particular, female wrestling,” Pratt said, according to responses provided by the PR company from submitted questions. “To me, the most compelling part of Helen’s story is the example of what life looks like after a person wins a gold medal. The inevitable comedown, the trauma around her injuries, the PTSD, the drive to continue that is what makes her who she is.”

Maroulis, who now trains in Arizona, hopes to qualify for this year’s world championships and next year’s Olympics.

“I try to treat every Games as my last,” she said. “Now I’m leaning toward being done [after 2024], but never say never.”

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