Petite Evans warns second pool gold

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 30

Petite Evans warns second pool gold

NZPA-Reuter Seoul The reed-like American, Janet Evans, captured her second Olympic swimming title and pulverised her own world record when she raced away with the women’s 400 metres freestyle gold late Thursday evening. The 17-year-old American, who won the 400 metres individual medley on Monday, held off the challenge of the East Germans, Heike Friedrich and Anke Moehring, flailing her way clear in the last 100 metres to win in four minutes 3.85 seconds. Evans, who set a blistering pace from the start, carved 1.60 seconds from the 4:05.45 world mark she set in Orlando, Florida, last December and was well inside the 4:07.10 Olympic record of fellow-American Tiffany Cohen.

Matt Biondi continued American celebrations with a storming win in the men’s 100 metres freestyle, bringing him his fourth medal of the Games and second gold. Biondi shot away from the blocks fast and showed clear on the first stroke, although Gennadi Prigoda, of the Soviet Union and the American Chris Jacob were in hot

pursuit down the first leg. The world champion turned in 23.21, inside his own world record split, 0.25 of a second up on Prigoda and 0.55 clear of Jacobs. The East German Kristin Otto collected her second gold medal, leading from start to finish to capture the 100 metres backstroke, the event she won as a 16-year-old at the 1982 world championships. The reigning European champion, Otto, who won the 100 metres freestyle on Monday, built a 0.24 second advantage over the 14-year-old Hungarian Krisztina Egerszegi by the 50-metre mark and raced away for the gold in l:oo.B9.Egerszegi just hung on for the silver, edging out the East German Cornelia Sirch. Otto then went on to get her third gold medal of the Games after leading off the East German 4xloo metres freestyle squad. The East German quartet of Otto, Katrin Meissner, Daniela Hunger and Manuela Stellmach were never seriously challenged and swung to victory in 3:40.63, just four hundreths outside the world record