In their last 11 Olympics stretching back to 1960, the U.S. swim team has failed to medal only twice in the men’s 100-meter freestyle. But Wednesday night, when that final is held in Athens, the U.S. will have no swimmer participating. Neither Jason Lezak nor Ian Crocker even qualified for Tuesday night’s semi-finals. Lezak swam his preliminary in 49.87 sec-onds, 1.7 seconds slower than his winning time at last month’s trials and only the 21st best in the field. “I felt fine, but I didn’t swim the race smart,” he said. “Normally I go out hard and hold on. This time I went out easy and couldn’t catch up.” Crocker, who has been battling throat problems, posted the morning’s 17th-best time in 49.73.
— Skip Myslenski
Sharp shooters
Americans Vic Wunderle and Jennifer Nichols advanced to the quarter-finals in archery. The 43rd-seeded Wunderle, of Mason City, Ill., upset No. 11 Ming Huang Liu of Taiwan 164-160. Nichols beat Tetyana Berezhna of Ukraine 163-160.
Going for broke
A broken wrist won’t stop Bobby Julich from trying to win a gold medal in Wednesday’s cycling time trials for men and women, the last chance for the U.S. road cycling team to win medals at these Olympics. Julich hurt his right wrist during a crash in the 13th stage of last month’s Tour de France. X-rays originally failed to show a break, but he learned before Saturday’s road race that he had suffered a non-displaced fracture and will likely need a cast. “This is not going to affect my race at all,” Julich said.
A bid for help
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U.S. relay swimmer Scott Goldblatt is busy out of the pool in Athens, working on a project to benefit the Melanoma Research Foundation. Melanoma took the life of his mother, Linda, in May 1997. “I’ve seen what this disease can do,” he said. Goldblatt is canvassing Olympians to donate personal items for an eBay auction. Among the items is a swim cap from Michael Phelps.
Tragic ending
A celebration for the first Thai woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal turned tragic Tuesday when a man was shot to death at the home of the parents of weight-lifter Udomporn Polsak in Bangkok. Police Capt. Chalermsak Chainarong-sak said he didn’t know the exact circumstances. Polsak won the 53-kg class.
— Tribune news services