By Stephen J. Thomas
ATHENS, Greece. August 14. WORLD record-holder Yana Klochkova took her second consecutive gold medal in the 400 meter individual medley tonight in a fast 4:34.83, but it was 21-year-old Kaitlin Sandeno who made the big impression, carving over five seconds off the PR she set in the prelims to finish just 0.12 of a second shy of the Ukrainian legend in a new American record of 4:34.95.
The American record, set by Summer Sanders 12 years ago, was almost broken last month at the Olympic Trials by teammate Katie Hoff. Many were tipping Hoff to make her charge here, but she failed to get past the prelims.
Sandeno moved up to Klochkova in the breaststroke leg to be only 0.09 of a second behind going into the freestyle. Sandeno was 0.01 of a second in front at the final turn, and the two battled to the finish. A great race worthy of an Olympic final!
After the race, Sandeno sighed, "That was close!" — surely the understatement of the day. "After the disappointment in Sydney (4th place) it was really great today. I was very relaxed and after all this time, more experienced. Six seconds faster I can't complain," she said.
Argentinian Georgina Bardach took the bronze in a South American record 4:
37.51 from Hungarian Eva Risztov 4:39.29.
Women 400m Individual Medley Finals Final
Record Splits Name NOC Location Date
WR 4:33.59 1:01.62 2:11.30 3:30.63 KLOCHKOVA Yana UKR Sydney (AUS) 16 SEP 2000
OR 4:33.59 1:01.62 2:11.30 3:30.63 KLOCHKOVA Yana UKR Sydney (AUS) 16 SEP 2000
Event No: 4
Rank Lane Name NOC R.T. Time Time
Behind
1 4 KLOCHKOVA Yana UKR 0.80 4:34.83
29.93
50m(1) 29.15
100m(2) 1:02.03
32.88 150m(1) 1:37.44
35.41 200m(1) 2:12.03
34.59 250m(1) 2:52.19
40.16 300m(1) 3:33.00
40.81 350m(2) 4:04.90
31.90
2 5 SANDENO Kaitlin USA 0.74 4:34.95
30.06 0.12 AM
50m(3) 29.92
100m(3) 1:02.95
33.03 150m(3) 1:38.46
35.51 200m(3) 2:13.30
34.84 250m(2) 2:53.09
39.79 300m(2) 3:33.09
40.00 350m(1) 4:04.89
31.80
3 3 BARDACH Georgina ARG 0.88 4:37.51
31.33 2.68
50m(4) 30.08
100m(4) 1:03.62
33.54 150m(6) 1:40.49
36.87 200m(6) 2:16.11
35.62 250m(4) 2:54.60
38.49 300m(3) 3:34.34
39.74 350m(3) 4:06.18
31.84
4 6 RISZTOV Eva HUN 0.86 4:39.29
31.36 4.46
50m(2) 29.42
100m(1) 1:01.91
32.49 150m(2) 1:37.62
35.71 200m(2) 2:12.23
34.61 250m(3) 2:54.31
42.08 300m(4) 3:35.45
41.14 350m(4) 4:07.93
32.48
5 7 MELO Joanna BRA 0.71 4:40.00
30.97 5.17
50m(7) 30.72
100m(5) 1:04.46
33.74 150m(5) 1:40.48
36.02 200m(5) 2:15.96
35.48 250m(6) 2:56.71
40.75 300m(6) 3:37.66
40.95 350m(5) 4:09.03
31.37
6 2 HETZER Nicole GER 0.94 4:40.20
31.16 5.37
50m(6) 30.67
100m(6) 1:04.63
33.96 150m(4) 1:40.18
35.55 200m(4) 2:14.85
34.67 250m(5) 2:55.89
41.04 300m(5) 3:37.17
41.28 350m(6) 4:09.04
31.87
7 8 NAM Yoo-Sun KOR 0.88 4:50.35
33.23 15.52
50m(8) 31.13
100m(8) 1:06.13
35.00 150m(7) 1:43.80
37.67 200m(7) 2:20.66
36.86 250m(7) 3:01.27
40.61 300m(7) 3:43.04
41.77 350m(7) 4:17.12
34.08
8 1 ANGELOPOULOU Vasiliki GRE 0.75 4:50.85
32.88 16.02
50m(5) 30.46
100m(7) 1:05.48
35.02 150m(8) 1:43.88
38.40 200m(8) 2:21.82
37.94 250m(8) 3:01.81
39.99 300m(8) 3:43.61
41.80 350m(8) 4:17.97
34.36