Six gold medals for Kristin Otto

Press, 27 September 1988, Page 25

Six gold medals for Kristin Otto

NZPA-Reuter Seoul Kristin Otto scooped her sixth gold medal and Matt Biondi swooped to his fifth, but the Soviet swimming veteran, Vladimir Salnikov, upstaged both late Sunday, bridging an eight-year Olympic gap for an unforgettable second triumph. East Germany’s Otto sprinted to her sixth gold in as many events in the 50 metres freestyle on a nerve-tingling final evening in the Olympic Indoor Pool, extending the record haul achieved by a woman at a single Olympics and almost matching the seven-gold tally of the American Mark Spitz in 1972.

Biondi helped the United States to victory in the 4 x 100 metres medley relay in world record time and himself to his seventh medal — five gold, one silver and one bronze.

But Salnikov provided the performance which most fired the imagination and warmed the heart, adorning his,illustrious career with a spellbinding victory in the 1500 metres freestyle. Salnikov, who swam his first Olympic final as a 16-year-old at the 1976 Montreal Games, turned back the clock to the night in Moscow when he clinched the Olympic title with the first sub-15-min-

ute 1500 metres. Seizing the lead from the American Matt Cetlinski approaching the 700metre mark, Salnikov surged smoothly on and claimed the gold in 15 minutes 0.40 seconds, a whisker away from his fifth sub-15-minute effort and a barrier nobody else has ever penetrated. On Salnikov’s night of glory, a girl half his age — 14-year-old Hungarian Kristztina Egerszegi — raced to an Olympic title in the next race, the women’s 200 metres backstroke. Tamas Daryni, another Hungarian, captured his second Olympic title and second world record in

the 200 metres individual medley, completing a 200 and 400 double in the discipline as he did in the last world and European championships.

Otto installed herself emphatically as queen of the Games with a roll of honour unprecedented in women’s swimming — gold in 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke, ,100 butterfly, 50 freestyle and freestyle and medley relays.

She clinched the sixth in the 50 freestyle, a race she had not expected to win, clocking 25.49 to finish ahead of the 16-year-old Chinese world recordholder, Wenyi Yang (25.64).

© The last New Zealand swimmer to compete in the 1988 Olympics, Napier backstroker Sharon Musson, finished second in the 200 m consolation final on Sunday. Swimming in lane two Musson, regarded as a bright prospect in New Zealand, finished the race in 2min 16.065. Musson remained in second place throughout the race. She turned at the 50m mark in 31.735, 100 m in Imin 05.87 s and 150 m in Imin 40.765. The consolation final was won by Romania’s Aneta Patrascoiu in a time of 2min 16.755.