Lindsey Vonn

(L-R) Hackett, Mellouli and Cochrane pose with their medals (Phot credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 17) -- Australian Grant Hackett's bid for a record third consecutive Olympic title in the Men's 1500m Freestyle fell apart as Tunisian Oussama Mellouli proved faster than the Australian on Sunday, at the National Aquatics Center.

Mellouli's time for the gold medal of 14:40.84 was an African record.

Against the expectations of many, he stuck with the two fastest qualifiers, Hackett and Canadian Ryan Cochrane, throughout the race and began to pull away with 200m left.

The lead three swimmers Hackett, Cochrane and Mellouli were never near to threatening the world record at any stage of the race with Cochrane turning in first place, at the 800m mark, in 7:51.06.

It was at the 1100m mark that Mellouli made his move on the leader Hackett. He increased the pace to see if the Australian veteran and world record holder could go with him but Hackett was found wanting.

From that point on Mellouli pulled away and swam the last 50m in a 28.45 split to ensure Hackett couldn't mount a comeback.

Hackett tried hard to close the gap in the last 100m with a last 50m split of 27.9 but it was not enough and he had to settle for the silver medal in 14:41.53.

Hackett's recent form suggested he could have been able to respond to the challenge from Mellouli but he was unable go with the Tunisian when it was needed.

Cochrane qualified second-fastest for the final in an Americas record 14:40.84 and was with the leaders throughout the race, finishing with the bronze medal in 14:42.69.

Yuriy Prilukov of Russia, who qualified third for the final in a European record 14:41.13, finished fourth.

(L-R) Gold medalists Marleen Veldhuis, Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk pose with their medals on the podium (Photo credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 10) -- The Netherlands confirmed their dominance of the Womens' 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay by winning the Beijing 2008 Olympic title at the National Aquatics Center on Sunday.

With the same team that broke the world record for the event in March, Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Femke Heemskerk and Marleen Veldhuis pulled themselves up from a poor first two legs and seventh place at one stage, to go on to win the gold medal comfortably from the United States by more than half a second.

After a poor first leg from Dekker, Kromowidjojo and Heemskerk began to pull back Germany, USA and China. Heemskerk and Veldhuis in particular overpowered the field, with Veldhuis registering a quick final leg split of 52.58 to give the Netherlands a winning time of 3:33.76.

The Netherlands team will enjoy great satisfaction from the win after taking Bronze at both the 2007 World Championships and the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Silver medalists United States had a great lead off leg from the experienced Natalie Coughlin, were steady through Nymeyer and Joyce, and were brought home strongly by Dara Torres who recorded a slick 52.44 split to give the USA team a time of 3:34.33.

Defending world and Olympic champions Australia, who were well back for much of the race and seemed to be out of the medals at the 300m mark, came storming home thanks to a blistering final leg of 52.34 from 100m Freestyle world record holder Lisbeth Trickett to claim the bronze medal.

China, the fastest qualifier from the heats, may have devoted their strength to the heats because they visibly tired and were overtaken to eventually touch fourth behind the fast-finishing Australia.

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