Jones, Beard set up Olympic showdown - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Jones, Beard set up Olympic showdown

By Peter Mitchell 13/07/2004 04:53:34 PM Comments (0)

Leisel Jones and US swim queen Amanda Beard are headed for a titanic Olympic showdown next month after the American reclaimed her world record.

Beard sliced half a second of the world 200m breastroke mark which 18-year-old Queenslander Jones set in Brisbane on Saturday as she romped to victory in the US Olympic trials in Long Beach, California.

The American had vowed she would quickly regain the record and, with almost 10,000 fans screaming support, she touched in 2:22.44. Jones' old mark was 2:22.96.

"World records are put there to be smashed and broken," said 22-year-old part-time model Beard.

She looked forward to her Olympic clash with Jones in Athens where she predicted the record would be smashed again.

"She (Jones) is an amazing athlete and I love racing her because she's very strong and I know that she's going to bring a great race with her," Beard said.

"... There are so many records dropping and I can only see that record dropping a couple of more times in Athens."

In Brisbane, Jones praised Beard's feat but also made it clear she believed she could go faster herself, having set her weekend record in the midst of a pre-Games training schedule.

"My congratulations go to Amanda on a great swim, I suppose she had the perfect opportunity to go for it," said Jones. "She has been in great form at the US trials.

"I am now looking forward to racing Amanda and all the other girls when we meet at the Olympics and I am also looking forward to my taper to see how fast I can go."

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news