NEW GOLDEN GIRL OF THE POOL
BEIJING, CHINA, August 10: For someone who so craves the limelight, Stephanie Rice and the Olympics were always going to be a perfect fit. The attention-seeking swimmer showed she was born for the big stage by claiming Australia's first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics today.
The glamour girl of Australian swimming proved she was so much more than a pretty face in annihilating American Katie Hoff's 400m medley world record along the way.
The greater the setting, the better Rice performs. TOM WALD AAP REPORTS...
Another thing is certain, her so-called break up with boyfriend Eamon Sullivan isn't affecting her swimming either.
"I am definitely an emotional swimmer and I don't swim well at the small meets, there's is just no emotion," Rice said.
"I would rather not be there.
"When the pressure is on, I know that everything I have trained for and practiced for is coming to that point in time.
"I could not have asked for a better race."
Just as she did at the selection trials, the Brisbane swimmer went out so fast it was as if she had a plane to catch afterwards.
She dragged Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry out ahead with her and pre-race favourite Hoff just couldn't keep up.
At one stage Rice (four minutes 29.45 seconds) and Coventry (4:29.89) were almost four seconds under world record pace, they tired in the last 200m but the gap was too great for third-placed Hoff (4:31.71).
The Australian was so exhausted after the race that it took her a while before looking back at her time on the big screen.
Her face exploded into a smile and her right arm shot up in celebration.
And as they say, timing is everything.
Rice has come to the boil for the Olympics while Hoff must ponder having dominated medley events in between the quadrennial Games.
The Queenslander first came to attention by winning double gold at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
She then backed that up by claiming bronze in both the 200m and 400m medley at last year's world championships.
But Rice has blown everyone away this year, taking a hacksaw to her best times.
Her coach Michael Bohl said the extra attention of an Olympic year only made his charge go better.
"She likes having a bit of the attention, she is a bit of a show pony, no she is not a show pony," said her coach Michael Bohl.
"She likes having a bit of the notoriety and it doesn't seem to worry her too much."
"She keeps performing well when she has to."
This is the shrinking violet who admitted the media attention following her and Sullivan's recent break-up was a bit "flattering".
No doubt her marketing people will be rubbing their hands together in delight at her potential earnings out of the pool.
But she still has plenty more to do this week.
She must first reply to some of the 50 messages that sprung up on her phone minutes after the race.
And calm down from the excitement of winning an Olympic gold medal and being congratulated by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who was watching in the stands.
The world record holder has the heats of the 200m medley on Monday night and the 4x200m relay later in the week.
Rice's performance polished over Grant Hackett's disappointing sixth place finish in the 400m freestyle, a worrying sign in his bid for a third straight 1500m title.
Australia's women relinquished their 4x100m relay crown, 16-year-old Cate Campbell putting in another sluggish swim as they claimed bronze behind the Netherlands and the USA.
Libby Trickett (57.05 seconds) put on her best swimsuit for the 100m butterfly semi-finals and led qualifying. She, teammate Jess Schipper and American Christine Magnuson are set to battle out the gold tomorrow.
Australia's Brenton Rickard (59.65s) also put himself in medal contention in the 100m breaststroke with a Commonwealth record.