Coventry wins Olympic silver for Zimbabwe

Coventry wins Olympic silver for Zimbabwe

COVENTRY after her Commonwealth triumph last year

By Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE'S Kirsty Coventry narrowly missed out on gold to win an Olympic silver in the 100-meter backstroke on Monday night.

American Natalie Coughlin had a big lead after the first lap but had to hang on desperately to hold off Coventry of Zimbabwe. French teenager Laure Manaudou took the bronze a day after winning gold in the 400 freestyle.

Coughlin, the only woman ever to swim under 1 minute in the event, finished first in 1 minute, 0.37 seconds. Coventry, who swims at Auburn University in Alabama, earned the silver in 1:00.50. Manaudou of France took bronze in 1:00.88.

Coughlin, of Concord, Calif., broke the minute-barrier for the first time in July 2002, going 59.58 to lower the world record of 1:00.16 set by He Cihong of China. Coughlin did it again at last month's U.S. trials, when she swam in 59.85.

Coventry, a Commonwealth gold medalist for Zimbabwe at the Club Games in Manchester last year, was one of eight qualifiers for the final.

She was the only African finalist, and her medal is Zimbabwe's first at the Olympics since the women's hockey team took gold in Moscow, Russia in 1980.

Coventry is also competing in the 200m backstroke on Thursday.

2002-03:
Is ranked No. 13 in the 200m IM (2:14.88), No. 37 in the 200m back (2:14.92) and No. 31 in the 400m IM (4:48.75) in World ... Competed at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, placing ninth in the 200m IM (2:14.88), 14th in the 200m back (2:15.20) and 400 IM (4:48.75) and 19th in the 100m back (1:03.09) ... Swam the third leg of the NCAA Champion 800 free relay team (7:02.72) with a split of 1:45.12 ... Also swam the third leg of the NCAA Champion 400 free relay (3:14.15) with a split of 48.75 ... Led off the NCAA Champion and NCAA and US Open record-setting 400 medley relay (3:31.45) with a split of 53.09 ... Placed second (53.01) to NCAA Champion Natalie Coughlin in the 100 back after coming out of prelims as the top qualifier with a 52.89 ... Silver medalist in the 200 back at NCAAs (1:53.17) ... Third silver medal at NCAAs was in the 200 IM, where she clocked a 1:57.28, tying with SMU's Alenka Kejzar behind teammate Maggie Bowen ... Was the fifth-highest scorer at SECs (54 pts) ... SEC Champion in the 100 back (53.38) ... Swam the third leg of the 800 free relay team that set the SEC, NCAA and US Open record at the SEC Championships (7:01.00) with a split of 1:46.13 ... Finished as the runner-up in the 200 IM (1:58.96) and the 200 back (1:53.87) at the SEC Championships ... 200 back time was 1.4 seconds better than the previous SEC record ... Swam the leadoff leg for the SEC Champion 400 medley relay team (3:34.86) with a split of 53.49 and the leadoff leg of the 400 free relay team (3:16.75) with a split of 49.96 ... Named to the Knoxville News Sentinel's All-SEC First Team for the backstroke and the second team for the relay and IM ...

2001-02:
Won a gold medal and set a Commonwealth Games record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:14.53 ... Also placed fourth in the 100 back and fifth in the 200 back at the games ... Placed third in the 200 back (1:54.37), fourth in the 100 back (53.67) and ninth in the 200 IM (1:59.37) at NCAAs … Was a member of the second-place 400 free relay and third-place 400 medley relay teams at NCAAs … Earned an SEC title in the 100 back in a school record time of 53.82 ... Finished second in the 200 back (1:55.39) and third in the 200 IM (1:59.92) at the SEC Championship meet ... Finished the SEC Championship meet second in individual scoring with 53 points ...

High School:
Harare Convent, ‘01…First Zimbabwe swimmer to semifinal in the Olympics…Sports Woman of the Year for 2000…One of the top ten finalists for Zimbabwe National Sports Person of the Year in 1999…Swam in the All-Africa Games in 1999…Qualified at the South Africa Senior Championships for the Olympics in 100 backstroke, 200 IM, 100 freestyle and 50 free…Competed in the Commonwealth Games in 1998 where she semifinaled in the 200 IM ...

Personal:
Full name is Kirsty Leigh Coventry ... Parents are Rob and Lyn Coventry ... Born Sept. 16, 1983 ... Has a sister, Lauren Coventry.
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