South Africa sinks Phelps' golden dreams

ATHENS, Greece — Michael Phelps surely didn't bargain for this.

His quest to win eight gold medals is over, doomed by America's worst showing in the 400-meter freestyle relay. Gary Hall Jr. is ticked off. And now comes the toughest race of all against the Thorpedo.

Not exactly what Phelps had in mind when he decided to challenge Mark Spitz.

Phelps got a spot on the relay at the expense of Hall, who didn't even show up to watch the Americans get blown out of the water by a South African foursome that set a world record Sunday night.

With six events left in Athens, the best Phelps can do now is tie Spitz's record of seven gold medals from the 1972 Munich Games — and there's no margin for error. Next up is the 200 free, a race that has been dominated by world record-holder Ian Thorpe of Australia and the most imposing of Phelps' individual events.

The 19-year-old from Baltimore opened with a gold in the 400 individual medley Saturday but needed to win all eight of his events to surpass Spitz.

"We are disappointed, but we're fortunate to win a medal," Phelps said of Sunday night's bronze. "It's a learning experience."

A learning experience that apparently left Hall seething. One of the greatest sprinters in American history didn't even show up at the pool after being told he would be left off the team that swam the evening final.

"Gary is one of the best Olympians of all time," said Hall's agent David Arluck. "I can't believe they kept him off the relay for some 19-year-old guy who is going after something that he's not going to accomplish anyway."

The South Africans broke the Aussies' world record with a time of 3 minutes, 13.17 seconds. The Netherlands took silver at 3:14.36, while Phelps and his American teammates finished third at 3:14.62.

The Americans had never lost an Olympic 400 free relay until they were upset by the Australians at the 2000 Sydney Games — both teams breaking the previous world record.

Across the board, a windy night at the pool didn't turn out well for the Americans.

World record-holder Brendan Hansen, swimming on his 23rd birthday, was beaten in the 100 breaststroke by Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, settling for a silver medal.

And Jenny Thompson, 31, was again denied an individual gold, finishing fifth in the 100 butterfly. Any medal would have been the 12th of Thompson's illustrious career — more than any other American — but she remains tied with swimmers Spitz and Matt Biondi and shooter Carl Osburn.