Drug-row sprinter Cesar Cielo defied a storm of criticism to win world gold Monday as Norway's Alexander Dale Oen claimed an emotional victory for his home country just days after deadly attacks. Fifteen-year-old prodigy Ye Shiwen also lit up Shanghai's Sea Crown stadium with a breathtaking first swimming win for China on an evening of tears and drama at the world championships.
Cesar, controversially cleared to swim despite failing a dope test, sobbed uncontrollably on the podium after his 50m butterfly win, and was comforted by fellow medallists Matthew Targett and Geoff Huegill of Australia. The Brazilian Olympic freestyle champion said he felt "blessed by God" after the victory, which he described as the toughest of his career.
"This gold medal has a different feel from the other ones," he said. "This one was the hardest of my life." Cielo clocked 23.10sec to take gold, just 0.18 ahead of second-placed Targett, unleashing a flood of emotions after his rollercoaster few months since testing positive for a banned diuretic in May.
The 24-year-old was let off with a warning last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, prompting rumblings of discontent among fellow swimmers including US veteran Jason Lezak. Cielo denies wrongdoing and blames a contaminated caffeine supplement for the result at Brazil's national championships in May. Three team-mates also tested positive for furosemide, which can mask performance-enhancing drugs. "It was a tough time," Cielo said. "Time to test not only my talent in swimming but how much I could take."
Meanwhile, Norway's Dale Oen used his sadness and anger at deadly attacks in his home country as "fuel" as he won the men's 100m breaststroke ahead of Italian Fabio Scozzoli and South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh. Japan's four-time Olympic breaststroke champion Kosuke Kitajima finished fourth as he failed to add to his three world titles.
Elsewhere, Asian Games champion Ye Shiwen, 15, brought the crowd to its feet in a pulsating 200m individual medley which secured China's first swimming gold. Ye put in a lightning final lap to pip Australia's Alicia Coutts, who won her second silver of the night, by one-tenth of a second in 2:08.90.
Defending champion Ariana Kukors of the United States was third but there was no medal for Australia's Olympic title-holder Stephanie Rice, who finished fourth. And American Dana Vollmer, 23, won her first individual title at a world championships in the 100m butterfly ahead of Coutts and China's Lu Ying. World record holder Sarah Sjoestroem, the Swedish defending champion, finished fourth while Australia's "Madame Butterfly" Jessicah Schipper was seventh. America's 14-time Olympic champion Phelps qualified for Tuesday's 200m freestyle final alongside team-mate Ryan Lochte.
Medals table SHANGHAI: Medals table for swimming events at the world championships after the second night of pool action on Monday:
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Gold Silver Bronze Total
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Australia 1 3 1 5
United States 1 1 2 4
China 1 1 1 3
Italy 1 1 0 2
Brazil 1 0 0 1
Netherlands 1 0 0 1
Norway 1 0 0 1
South Korea 1 0 0 1
France 0 1 1 2
Britain 0 1 0 1
Germany 0 0 2 2
South Africa 0 0 1 1
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