+Redgrave looking to make history in Olympic rowing*
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By Brooke Edwards 
SportsTicker Contributing Editor 

SYDNEY, Australia (Ticker) -- Four years ago, after winning his
fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, Steve Redgrave of Britain
urged anybody who saw him even near a boat to shoot him. 

Now, only a week before the start of the Sydney Games, Redgrave
has indeed become a target -- not from eager marksmen, however,
but from the rest of the coxless four field, who recently
discovered that his crew was indeed perfectly beatable. 

That hasn't daunted the 38-year-old, who will attempt to become
only the second Olympian to win gold in five consecutive Games,
winter or summer. 

"If I ever go near a boat again, just shoot me," Redgrave had
pleaded as he lifted himself out of his double scull with
crewmate Matthew Pinsent in Atlanta four years ago. 

But it wasn't long before Redgrave was dreaming of Olympic glory
Down Under. 

"Obviously, the statement I made and the build-up to it was very
intense, and I felt that was going to be it.  I didn't want to
carry on anymore," he said. "But even two or three days
afterwards, I started thinking the Sydney Olympics would be a
tremendous Games." 

But the favorites showed a chink in their armor earlier this
season. 

The crew, which includes Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and
Tim Foster, were beaten twice in the coxless fours at the Rowing
World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland.  There, they finished second
in the semifinals and fourth in the final behind Italy, New
Zealand and Australia, marking the first loss for the
combination since it was formed in 1997. 

"Everyone still thinks we can win, but it's not a formality,"
said Redgrave, who has nine World Championship gold medals in
addition to his four Olympic golds. 

Cracknell, however, said the defeat was a wake-up call. 

"Losing hurt us a lot, but however much it hurt in Lucerne, it
would be unimaginable in Sydney," Cracknell said. "I think it's
making us train harder and helping us stay more focused on the
Games. 

"At the moment, we're trying to make the difference between our
best and worst performance minimal." 

If the crew wins in Sydney on September 23, Redgrave would
become only the second person in Olympic history to have won
gold in five straight Games. Hungarian fencer Aladar Gerevich
still holds the record, winning gold medals at six consecutive
Games from 1932 to 1960. 

But Redgrave, a diabetic who requires six insulin injections a
day, first will have to help his team fight off a strong
challenge from the Italian crew, New Zealand and Australia, the
world silver medalists. 

Another man with a medical condition, world champion Rob Waddell
of New Zealand, is the favorite in the men's single sculls. The
6-7 Waddell, who underlined his good form with a convincing win
in Lucerne, was diagnosed with an atrium fibrillation in 1995.
But the rare heart condition has never seemed to dim his ability
to consistently produce a fast middle 1000 meters or to plow
through the final meters, leaving his competitors behind. 

Reigning Olympic champion Xeno Mueller of Switzerland, who won
in Vienna, Czech Vaclav Chalupa, who placed first at the World
Cup rowing regatta in Vienna and third in Munich, and Marcel
Hacker of Germany will be Waddell's main competition.  But
former world champion and Atlanta silver medalist Derek Porter
of Canada has shown he's still a force to be reckoned with,
almost beating Waddell in Lucerne. 

With a smaller chance at a medal is Don Smith of the United
States, making his first Olympic appearance. 

After a spell in single sculls at the World Cup in Vienna, world
champions Luka Spik and Iztok Cop of Slovenia returned to what
they do best: the double sculls. 

Norway's Olaf Tufte and Fredrik Bekken and Germany's world
silver medalists, Sebastien Mayer and Stefan Roenhart, as well
as Italians Alessio Sartori and Rossano Galtarossa will all
provide a stiff challenge. 

Seemingly unstoppable world champion Ekaterina Karsten of
Belarus will headline the women's single sculls.  Former world
champion Irina Fedotova of Russia and Katrin
Rutschow-Stomporowski of Germany should push her the hardest but
will have to have an exceptional race to seriously threaten her.
Another former world champion, Maria Brandin of Sweden, and
Bulgaria's world bronze medalist Rumyana Neykova could also be
medal contenders. 

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Marnie McBean pulled out of
what was to be her final Olympic Games because of a back injury.

The 31-year-old Canadian, who has won World Championship or
Olympic medals in every rowing crew event, suffered excruciating
lower back and hamstring pain shortly after arriving in
Australia. A scan revealed large disc protrusions displacing the
nerve roots in her spine. 

The marquis event, the men's eight also is bound for some great
racing. 

The United States -- Olympic champions 11 times, including eight
straight from 1920-56 -- appear back in the medal hunt after a
long wait and are pegged to win their first medal since 1988 or
even their first Olympic race since 1964, despite a lack of
international competition this season. 

Composed of Chris Ahrens, Porter Collins, Bob Kaehler, Jeff
Klepacki, Garrett Miller, Dave Simon, Tom Welsh, Bryan
Volpenhein and Pete Cipollone (cox), the crew has not rowed in
any of the 2000 Rowing World Cup regattas this year, with coach
Mike Teti preferring not to disrupt their training schedule with
travel. 

But with the No. 2 eight boat placing third at the final World
Cup event in Lucerne, it is highly likely the No. 1 boat will be
at least as strong. 

The United States, the only country with a crew in each of the
14 classes, will face heavy competition from world champion
Britain, which won the World Cup title this season, and
Australia, winner at Henley. 

The Croatian eight, which won the World Cup in Munich, reigning
Olympic champion Canada, the Netherlands and Romania also will
be tough to beat. 

The women's eight also promises to be an intriguing clash. 

Reigning Olympic and world champions, Romania will face main
competition from Vienna winners Belarus, which also won the
European Qualification Regatta in Lucerne.  Australia, 1996
Olympic silver medalist Canada and Britain, which qualified for
the Olympics in the first race of the season, also have looked
like Olympic-class crews. 

The stars and stripes boat is another medal contender, having
finished runner-up to Romania at the last two World Rowing
Championships, though since the eight did not row at any of the
World Cup regattas in Europe this year, their form remains a
mystery. 

Americans Amy Fuller and Betsy McCagg will make their third
Olympic appearance, with Fuller looking to increase her Olympic
medal tally to two, after winning silver in the coxless four in
1992, and McCagg seeking her first podium finish. 

Lianne Nelson, Sarah Jones, Torrey Folk, Amy Martin, Linda
Miller, Katie Maloney and coxswain Raj Shah will join Fuller and
McCagg in the long boat. 

Americans Laurel Korholz and Jennifer Dore-Terhaar will compete
in their second Olympic Games, but have left the eight boat for
the quadruple sculls. 

Both women rowed in the eight boat that finished fourth at the
1996 Olympics in Atlanta, then migrated to the quadruple sculls
boat that finished fourth at the 1999 World Rowing
Championships. The foursome also includes Kelly Salchow and
Hilary Gehman. 

In the men's coxless pair, Yugoslavia's Djordje Visacki and
Nikola Stojic, who won the World Cup in Munich and in Lucerne,
will almost certainly clash with Edward Murphy and Sebastien Bea
of the United States, who were second at the Swiss regatta. 

"We're shooting for a nice big fat medal in Sydney," said
Murphy. "It will take a lot of work, but I think that we have a
shot." 

Final touches were added to the Olympic rowing course to ensure
weed will not be a problem for the 556 rowers competing. 

The Penrith International Regatta Centre was the subject of
criticism early in the year when national rowing and kayaking
competitions were impeded by thick weeds in the lake. 

But after organizers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on
dredging and laying mats to prevent regrowth, the water appears
as weed-free as possible without disturbing the natural
ecological balance of the natural lake. 

st 09-15-00 04:51 et