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Thursday, September 21
Kovacs wins nation's heart
From Craig Lord in Sydney
Agnes Kovacs was overcome by a tide of emotion as she received the gold medal today after becoming the first Hungarian to win the 200 metres breaststroke title since Eva Szekely in 1952.
Kovacs, 19, clocked 2min 24.35sec for victory over Kristy Kowal and Amanda Beard, both of the United States. At the wall, Kowal was just 0.21sec behind Kovacs, who is on the way to replacing the great Krisztina Egerszegi - winner of the same event in 1988, 1992 and 1996 - in the hearts of the Hungarian public.
The way Kovacs won tonight was magnificent. Coming out of the last turn, Kovacs, in lane 4 - a place she earned by establishing a European and Olympic record of 2:24.03 in the semi-finals yesterday - was more than a body length behind Kowal, who was on world-record pace.
Slowly but surely the woman who kept coach Lazslo Kiss in swimming after Egerszegi retired, chipped away at Kowal’s lead, her long smooth technique employed to best effect.
With five metres to go, the battle was up as Kovacs’s greater momentum swept her to victory over Kowal and Beard, who, as a 15-year-old, had won the silver medal in Atlanta one place ahead of Kovacs. Gold that day was won by Penny Heyns, the South African world record-holder, who this week announced her retirement after failing to make the final of the 200 metres.
Kovacs, the European champion, has some way to go before she reaches the Olympic fame of either Egerszegi or Szekely, whose husband won two water-polo gold medals and whose daughter won two swimming medals in 1972, but she has taken the first step.
