INDIANAPOLIS — Ryan Lochte held off hard-charging Tyler Clary to win the 400-meter individual medley at the U.S. national championships Tuesday night, leading a parade of Olympians who qualified for the world meet this month.
Katie Hoff supplied the only surprise on opening night of the five-day meet. The Olympic silver medalist faded to sixth in the 400 freestyle, her latest disappointing result since the Beijing Games.
Michael Phelps had the night off before swimming his first two events today.
Along with Lochte, Christine Magnuson (100 butterfly), Peter Vanderkaay (400 free), Julia Smit (200 IM), Mark Gangloff and Allison Schmitt (400 free) all earned trips to Rome by winning titles.
Smit and Gangloff set American records — with Smit finishing in 2:09.34 to beat Hoff’s 2008 mark by 0.37 seconds and Gangloff clocking 59.01 to lower Brendan Hansen‘s 2006 record of 59.13.
Banned French tennis player found dead
PARIS — French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt, who was recently banned for betting on matches, was found dead by his girlfriend in the stairwell of his apartment. He was 24.
The French tennis federation said Montcourt died overnight but the cause of death is not known, and an autopsy will be conducted.
In May, Montcourt was handed a five-week ban and fined $12,000 for betting on other matches. That ban took effect Monday.
Montcourt complained during the French Open that the punishment was too harsh, saying he never bet more than $3 at any time, and never on his own matches — a fact confirmed by the ATP.
Coach K expected to return.
Mike Krzyzewski appears set to go for more gold.
USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said “all leads point to Coach K coming back,” following a report by the Boston Globe that Krzyzewski has agreed to return as U.S. Olympic basketball coach.
Krzyzewski led the Americans to the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics, their first major championship in eight years. He also guided them to a bronze in the world championships two years earlier.
• After more than two years of negotiations, the U.S. Olympic Committee is ready to introduce a network devoted solely to Olympic sports. Details about the “U.S. Olympic Network” will be unveiled today.
Footnotes.
Michael Waltrip announced he will scale back to a partial schedule in 2010 to make room for Martin Truex Jr. to join his NASCAR racing team.
• New York Giants linebacker Michael Boley, arrested in May 2008 and charged with battery on his wife after she accused him of becoming “too physical” after an argument, has been suspended by the NFL for the first game of the regular season for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy.
• A confrontation with a referee following the United States’ upset victory over Spain has earned midfielder Michael Bradley a three- game suspension, although the penalty is unlikely to affect qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
• U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu joined AC Milan, becoming one of the few Americans to play in Italy’s top soccer league.
The Associated Press
