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A look back at sports

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes (L) keeps both feet in the end zone as he beats Arizona Cardinals safety Aaron Francisco to catch the game winning touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, February 1, 2009. Credit: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

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Phelps begins Olympic trials with world record

Steve Keating
OMAHA, Nebraska
Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:20pm EDT
Michael Phelps swims in the Men's 400m Individual Medley setting a new world record at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, June 29, 2008. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes

OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) - Michael Phelps got the U.S. Olympic swimming trials off to a spectacular start with a world record in the 400 meters individual medley on Sunday.

Sports  |  China

Phelps, targeting Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Games in Beijing, stormed to a time of four minutes, 5.25 seconds to slice almost a second of his old mark of 4:06.22 set at last year's world championships.

Ryan Lochte, who had clocked the fastest time in qualifying, battled Phelps stroke-for-stroke the entire distance before settling for runner's-up spot in 4:06.08, the second fastest time ever.

Lochte also earned a trip to Beijing, the top two finishers in each event claiming Olympic places.

(Editing by Ed Osmond

(For more Olympic stories visit our multimedia website "Road to Beijing" here; and see our blog at blogs.reuters.com/china)
Sports
China


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