Olympics: Michael Phelps cuts schedule

There won’t be a Beijing repeat in London. Michael Phelps has dropped one of his eight Olympic races.

Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman, announced yesterday on the final day of the US swimming trials that Phelps was scratching the 200m freestyle, leaving him with seven events at the London Games. The decision removes the chance of Phelps matching the record eight gold medals he won in Beijing. “It makes sense,” Bowman said. “No one should be expected to do that twice. Once was more than enough.”

Phelps qualified in five individual events for London and is expected to swim all three relays. But he’s decided to focus on the 200 and 400 individual medley and the 100 and 200 butterfly. Bowman said his main concern was Phelps being fresh for the 400 freestyle relay. While the US has traditionally dominated that event, the Australians are favoured for London.

The relay was one of Phelps’ closest calls in Beijing, with team-mate Jason Lezak coming from behind on the anchor leg to beat a strong French squad. The relay final is on the same day as the preliminaries and semi- finals of the 200 freestyle.

“We respect the challenge we’re up against,” Bowman said with a smile, “and perhaps we’ll be more ready than people think.”