Hansen flop takes edge off Kitajima Olympic rematch

OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) - Brendan Hansen's failure to qualify for an Olympic spot in the 200 meters breaststroke at the U.S. swim trials on Thursday provided a shock that was felt all the way to Japan.

An Olympic rematch between Hansen and Japan's double Athens gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima was expected to provide one of swimming's most intriguing storylines at the Beijing pool.

But the showdown will now be limited to the 100 after Hansen once again failed to deliver at the big event, finishing fourth.

After winning the 100 on Monday, Hansen had confidently looked forward to reclaiming his 200 world record from Kitajima and atoning for a poor effort at the Athens Olympics.

Instead it will be Scott Spann and Eric Shanteau offering up the American challenge in the 200, after both men stormed past their training partner Hansen to secure their first Olympic berths.

Hansen has three of the top five times ever in the event and secured a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics.

But that all counts for nothing at the cut-throat U.S. trials where only the top two finishers earn Olympic berths.

"I tried to stay with Brendan then really attack the last 50," Spann said.

"The last 15 meters I got so tired but all I could think of in my head was this is summing up four years these last strokes and I touched the wall and was really surprised I won.

"I was in shock"

No more than Hansen was.

A top two finish would have sent him to Beijing with a second chance to grab the gold medals that slipped through his fingers four years ago in Athens.

After setting world records in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the U.S. trials in 2004, Hansen headed to Greece as the red-hot favorite but it was Kitajima who returned home with double Olympic gold, while the American settled for silver and bronze.

"I don't know what went wrong, I came to the pool tonight and I didn't have a very good feeling," a stunned Hansen told reporters.

"I did my best, I gave everything in the pool tonight, I left it all out there.

"It wasn't there. I just wasn't my day ...I guess it was theirs.

"I'm going to show these guys what they need to do beat him (Kitajima) because if I can't do it I'm going to make sure that they do."

(Editing by Martin Petty) (For more stories visit our multimedia website "Road to Beijing" here; and see our blog at blogs.reuters.com/china)