US wins two golds in 50m freestyle

Gary Hall Jr (left) and Anthony Irvin shared the gold

The USA took an astonishing result in the 50m freestyle, winning two gold medals.

Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall Jr tied for the victory, relegating Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband to the bronze medal position.

World record holder Alexander Popov was right in with a chance in what was a fantastically tight finish until he put his head up right at the end.

That relegated him to sixth, just ahead of Britain's Mark Foster, who made a superb start and led the early stages, but wilted in the second half of the race.

"I'm disappointed at the way it went," Foster said.

Hall Jr, who is the training partner of Ervin, said: "It has been a rough four years for me, so to come out on top, even if I share the victory, is great. And I couldn't be sharing it with a better guy."

Silent stadium

Earlier, Sweden's Lars Froelander produced a major shock by taking gold in the 100m butterfly.

He beat two of home nation Australia's biggest medal hopes in Geoff Huegill, the world record holder in the 50m 'fly, and Michael Klim, the man who owns the record in the 100m.

They were relegated to the silver and the bronze, with Klim taking second.

Froelander came back after being down at the turn, which Huegill made in a mark that was 0.3sec faster than Klim had been during his world record run.

Froelander flanked by Klim (left) and Huegill

But the Swede came back hard at the Australians and overhauled them in the final 25m.

His win silenced the stadium, which had been expecting another gold medal for Australia.

The Australians, though, are still the only men in the world to go under 52 seconds at the distance. Froelander set a time of exactly 52.0secs.

"I feel awesome," he said. "It's just great - but I was hoping to break 52secs tonight."

Meanwhile, Paul Palmer bowed out of Sydney in forlorn fashion when his tilt at the 1500m freestyle event ended in yet further disappointment.

The Briton, who failed to qualify in the 400m freestyle where he won silver in Atlanta four years ago, trailed in seventh out of eight in his heat.

I have come away with nothing and I normally expect a medal

  Britain's Paul Palmer

His time of 15:21.09 was nearly three seconds outside the qualifying time for the final in a heat won by Australia's Grant Hackett in 15:07.50.

Earlier, Hackett's compatriot Kieren Perkins, roared on by a partisan crowd, ensured he will start favourite to claim a third successive gold medal with a hugely impressive swim of 14:58.34 to qualify fastest.

"I just don't have the experience to race guys like this, and I didn't have the trust in myself or the stamina to get out there with them at the start," Palmer conceded.

"After 500 or 600 metres, I knew I was going to struggle to stay with them, but this event was always a shot to nothing really.

"If it had been anywhere other than at the end of the programme I wouldn't have done it."

Chastening experience

After his run of medals at major championships in recent years, however, Palmer admitted that Sydney has proved a chastening experience.

"It's a pretty hollow meet for me," he added.

"I have come away with nothing and I normally expect a medal.

"It is the first time since Barcelona that I have had to deal with it, and I guess everybody has to go through it now and again.

Adam Faulkner, the 18-year-old from Nottingham competing in his first Olympics, also found the going tough in the fifth heat, finishing last in 15:39.86, 22 seconds behind his Games qualifying time.

"I was very nervous going into it," Faulkner said.

"I'll be right in four years and challenging for a medal. The stadium gets to you and I think the whole British team have suffered.

Defiantly upbeat

There was better news for the British men in the men's 4x100m medley relay however as Neil Willey, Darren Mew, James Hickman and Sion Brinn lowered the old British record of 3:40.73 by more than a second to 3:39.60.

That time saw them qualify fifth fastest behind Germany, Hungary, United States and Australia.

Hickman, who swam the butterfly leg, was defiantly upbeat at the team's prospects of salvaging a medal in the final event of the swimming programme on Saturday.

"Anything can happen," he insisted.

"The last time in Istanbul two teams got disqualified and the team that finished fifth ended up with a medal.

"If you are in it, you can win it."