{"id":442471,"date":"2020-08-02T01:33:22","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T08:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=442471"},"modified":"2020-08-02T01:33:22","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T08:33:22","slug":"league-of-olympic-swim-legends-alex-popov-tops-50-free-with-hall-jr-ervin-biondi-jager-snap-for-bronze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/league-of-olympic-swim-legends-alex-popov-tops-50-free-with-hall-jr-ervin-biondi-jager-snap-for-bronze\/","title":{"rendered":"League of Olympic Swim Legends: Alex Popov Tops 50 Free With Hall Jr – Ervin, Biondi, Jager Snap For Bronze"},"content":{"rendered":"

What would have unfolded had Tokyo 2020 gone ahead as planned this week \u2013 and where would it all have fit in the thread of Olympic swim legends and pioneers like Alex Popov, Gary Hall Jr, Anthony Ervin, Matt Biondi and Tom Jager<\/strong>?\u00a0To mark the eight days over which the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games would have unfolded had the coronavirus pandemic not forced postponement, the team at\u00a0Swimming World<\/em> is filling the void with a Virtual Vision Form Guide and League of Olympic Swimming Legends<\/strong>. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Day 8, event 1 \u2013 Fast and Furious …<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

\n<\/div>\n

Men\u2019s 50m Freestyle<\/h2>\n
\"Alex

Alex Popov. Photo Courtesy: Patrick B. Kraemer<\/p><\/div>\n

The Podium<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Alex Popov (RUS)<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Gary Hall Jr (USA)<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Anthony Ervin, Matt Biondi, Tom\u00a0Jager (USA)<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The Other Finalists (Listed Alphabetically):<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Cesar Cielo (BRA)<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Florent Manaudou (FRA)<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Zoltan Halmay (HUN)<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      \u00a0<\/strong>Our<\/em>\u00a0Lane 9*<\/em>\u00a0place goes to the first man to appear on the World best time lists long after the 1956 rule that made long-course the official and, for over 30 years, the only standard of measuring pioneering speed … in other circumstances, he would have been in the 100m final with Montgomery in 1976 but he paid the price for his nation’s discrimination. Here we can add him to the league of legends, with a nod to the generations he has helped in the pool ever since:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Jonty Skinner (USA)<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        * \u2013 in our series, we will use Lane 9 to add an athlete whose story reflects extraordinary situations of different kinds, including being deprived by those who fell foul of anti-doping rules or by political decisions or, indeed the Olympic program, as\u00a0well as simple facts such as \u201che\/she was the only other title winner who claimed gold in a WR but didn\u2019t make out top 8 on points\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

        All-Time Battle Of Olympic Swim Legends Goes To Alex Popov<\/h3>\n
        \"Gary

        Gary Hall Jr at 2000 Olympic trials – Photo Courtesy: Peter Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

        \"2016-ervin-50-freestyle-rio\"

        Anthony Ervin – Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher, USA Today<\/p><\/div>\n

        Have you been counting down to see who came out on top as the fastest man in history?<\/p>\n

        If you\u2019ve been waiting to see Russia\u2019s Alexander Popov<\/strong> on the top step of the podium, your wish has been granted. Step up undefeated\u00a01992 and 1996 champion sprint freestyle.<\/p>\n

        Popov gave his 1996 Olympic gold medal for the 100m to his coach Gennadi Touretski as a token of thanks, saying:<\/p>\n

        \u201cI have a title and I\u2019m on the result sheet, but Gennadi didn\u2019t get anything from Atlanta, nor from Barcelona. I know how much this particular medal means for him, what it\u2019s worth to him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

        \"mattbiondi\"

        Matt Biondi – Photo Courtesy: ISHOF<\/p><\/div>\n

        In Moscow 30 days later, Popov was stabbed in the stomach after intervening in a fight between a friend and a watermelon seller. The knife penetrated 15cms, damaging the pleura, the membrane that encases the lungs, missing a kidney by the edge of a blade and slicing an artery. Emergency surgery was followed by three months in rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

        The incident changed his life: Popov was baptised in an orthodox church shortly after the stabbing. He recovered well enough to defend the European sprint titles at Seville in 1997, when he described the process of overcoming adversity in these terms:<\/p>\n

        \u201cMy soul wasn\u2019t damaged, my brain wasn\u2019t damaged, only my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

        He spoke at a press conference in Seville at which Craig Lord<\/em>\u00a0asked him about recovery, the healing power of water and his relationship with the element in which he excelled. His reply\u00a0entered the lore of the sport:<\/p>\n

        \u201cThe water is your friend, you don\u2019t have to fight with water, just share the same spirit as the water, and it will help you move. If you fight the water it will defeat you. We were born in water \u2013 it\u2019s like home to me.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

        \"Tom

        Tom Jager in 1986 – Photo Courtesy: Swimming World Magazine<\/p><\/div>\n

        In our Legends battle of the ages, Popov turned away some of the best names in the event, including Matt Biondi, Gary Hall Jr. <\/strong>and Tom Jager<\/strong>. The Tsar\u2019s world record of 21.64 took down a 10-year-old standard and lasted for seven-plus years.<\/p>\n

        The tussle for the silver medal was tight, but Hall Jr. and his Olympic golds of 2000 (shared with Anthony Ervin<\/strong>) and 2004 gave the longtime sprint standout the nod over Biondi. Hall was aided by a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics, and his win in 2000 came at the expense of Popov. That Hall and Popov share the podium is fitting, given spectacular their rivalry and disdain for one another.<\/p>\n

        At the helm of those surging to win the battle for bronze was Biondi, who won the 1988 title ahead of Jager and added a silver medal four years later in Barcelona. Biondi registered three world records and, as a pantheon of 11 Olympic medals, eight of them gold and 5 of the medals in solo events demonstrates, he did his best work when the pressure was on.<\/p>\n

        In this battle of the ages, Ervin lagged Biondi all the way until the closing five metres. In the furious hunt for the end wall, Ervin relied on three reserves in his tank: the Olympic title he shared with Hall Jr. as a 19-year-old at Sydney 2000, which put him in the race to start with, the longevity of his journey of excellence and; how that came out in Olympic waters (so far), namely Rio 2016 gold as the oldest champion in history, at 35.<\/p>\n

        Ervin also made the final at the 2012 Games, and one can only wonder what he might have done if he didn\u2019t leave the sport for seven years after the 2003 World Championships.<\/p>\n

        Ervin has no World solo records to his name but a span of five Olympic Games with golden bookends all events – 2016 also giving him the record for the most years between gold medals – provided fuel enough for him to place his hand on the wall precisely at the same time as Biondi. A snap for bronze.<\/p>\n

        And this is where we, the judges, roll back the years, hail the naked eye of yore, ignore the electronic timing on the day, and take into account the Olympic fight and the spirit that transcends the moment.<\/p>\n

        Jager never did get his hand to the wall first in an Olympic final: he claimed silver behind Biondi in 1988 and then bronze behind Popov and Biondi in 1992. Here are two factors we feel deserve to be taken into account in our battle of the ages virtual world: the World records and pioneering pace-setting of our legends and what happened next after the day did not go as best it could have done.<\/p>\n

        Jager set six world records, was the first man to go sub-22 and had a 13-year reign as World record holder and left the standard at 21.81. In 1990! It took 10 years and Popov to take it down.<\/p>\n

        Then there is this: what does a Team Captain do when he’s tried and tried and tried again, picked up World titles, set the pace for others but in Olympic waters finds silver converted not to gold but bronze. Well, his coaches and some teammates thought they would not see Jager for a while after that moment in Barcelona that for many would have been a most joyful occasion to take on into the rest of life but for the American speedster was crushing.<\/p>\n

        Jager understood: he was the captain of a team. He showered, put on his team kit, returned to the stand and spent the rest of the day and meet cheering for his teammates. And that represents the true golden nugget in the Olympic spirit right there. As such, we feel, for the purposes of this exercise, a three-way tie for bronze, putting Jager up there with Biondi and Ervin is a good way of reflecting the qualities that it also takes to be a legend.<\/p>\n

        Any minded to protest: get your Swiss francs out! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

        Meanwhile, in this age of living in our times, even the likes of Alex Popov and Matt Biondi fading into history, many appear to think the Olympic 50m freestyle was born in 1988. Not so. The one name in our legends line-up that many may not recognise is that of Zolt\u00e1n Halmay, of Hungary: he won the 1904 dash title and his Olympic story is summed up at the foot of this feature.<\/p>\n

        Alex Popov – The Phases of Freestyle:<\/h2>\n