The Blot is sad to report that my favorite United States Olympic swimmer and reigning Olympic champion of the 200-meter breaststroke, Amanda Beard, failed in her bid to defend the gold medal she won at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In a preliminary heat last night the four-time Olympian was unable to advance to semifinals in her signature event, the 200-meter breaststroke.According to reports from Beijing, “Amanda swam the 200 in 2 minutes, 27.70 seconds, more than 2.5 seconds slower than her entry time and nearly 4.5 seconds slower than her Olympic record time in Athens four years ago.” (link) While Beard still currently holds the Olympic Record in the 200-meter breaststroke, I would imagine that mark will be eclipsed later in the week like almost all of the other swimming records have been over the course of these Olympic Games.
This was Amanda’s only event of the 2008 Beijing Summer Games and will more than likely be the highly decorated swimmer’s last race ever at a summer Olympics. I am sure the U.S. swim team and fans around the country will miss seeing the PETA supporting model at future competitions.