THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 6 : Roundup : Biondi Swims to Olympic Record in 100-Meter Freestyle Preliminaries

SEOUL — Swimmer Matt Biondi broke the Olympic record in qualifying for the 100-meter freestyle here Thursday, lowering the standard set just 5 minutes earlier by fellow American Chris Jacobs.

Biondi, who already has won gold, silver and bronze medals, was timed in 49.04 seconds in his specialty, in which he holds the world record (48.42).

Jacobs, of Livingston, N.J., was timed in 49.20 before Biondi swam, breaking the previous Olympic record of 49.80, set by Rowdy Gaines of the United States in 1984.

Janet Evans, the only American woman swimmer with a medal after 4 events, was the top qualifier in the women’s 400-meter freestyle.

Evans, who won the 400 individual medley Monday, was first in the final heat in 4:10.12.

Anke Moehring of East Germany was the No. 2 qualifier, followed by Tami Bruce of San Diego.

Greco-Roman wrestling:

Minutes after winning the bronze medal, American Dennis Koslowski said he had finished his career as a wrestler.

Koslowski, of Minneapolis, took the bronze medal in the 100-kilogram (220-pound) class, overwhelming Bulgarian Ilia Gueorguiev, 6-0.

His bronze medal was the best ever for the U.S. in Greco-Roman during an Olympics involving Eastern Bloc competitors.

Koslowski has been working 40 hours a week as a chiropractor and spending 10 to 15 hours a week in training.

His twin brother, Duane, competed in the 130-kilogram (286-pound) class, but was eliminated during preliminaries Wednesday.

Jon Ronningen of Norway overwhelmed Atsuji Miyahara of Japan, 12-7, for the gold in the 52-kilogram (115-pound) division.

Korea’s Kim Young-nam won the gold in the 74-kilogram (163-pound) class by edging Daoulet Tourlykhanov of the Soviet Union, 2-1. Jozef Tracz of Poland took the bronze.

Andrzej Wronski of Poland beat Gerhard Himmel of West Germany for the gold in the 100-kilogram (220-pound) class.

Weightlifting:

Angel Guenchev of Bulgaria, filling in for an injured teammate, set 3 world records and won the gold medal in the 67.5-kilogram (148-pound) competition with a total of 362.5 kilograms (797.5 pounds) in 2 lifts.

Guenchev did a back flip on the platform after his record-setting effort.

Joachim Kunz of East Germany took the silver medal with a combined total of 340 kilograms (748 pounds), and Israel Militossian of the Soviet Union won the bronze.

Guenchev’s 160-kilogram (352-pound) lift in the snatch surpassed a mark set earlier this year by Militossian. He also broke 2 records set by fellow Bulgarian Mihail Petrov

Men’s basketball:

Andrew Gaze scored 25 points and Philip Smyth added 24, leading Australia over the Central Africa Republic, 106-67.

Gaze, who will attend Seton Hall after the Olympics, scored 20 points in the first half and Smyth scored 19.

Central Africa was led by Anicet-Richard Lavodrama’s 30 points. Lavodrama, who played at Houston Baptist, has scored 81 points in 3 games.

Women’s shooting:

Silvia Sperber, completing one of the biggest West German sports comebacks in recent years, won the women’s small-bore rifle shooting for her nation’s first gold medal of these Games.

Jasna Sekaric of Yugoslavia broke her own world record in the qualifying round and held back two Soviets in winning the women’s air pistol event.

Bulgaria’s Vessela Letcheva, the world’s top-ranked woman rifle shooter the last 2 years, won the silver in the small-bore, and Valentina Tcherkassova of the Soviet Union placed third.

Nino Saloukvadze of the Soviet Union, the sport pistol gold medalist, picked up the silver medal in air pistol. Her teammate, Marina Dobrantcheva, the air and sport pistol champion at this year’s World Cup championships, won the bronze.

Equestrian:

Three of the four competitors from the U.S. equestrian team fell, dashing all hopes of winning any team or individual medals in the 3-day event.

With a final day of competition yet to go in jumping, the West German team led New Zealand and Britain in team competition.

New Zealand’s Mark Todd, a former dairy farmer who sold much of his herd to finance his Olympic quest, ranked first in the individual competition. Todd won the gold for individual riding at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

The U.S. team entered the second round in fourth place but quickly lost ground with falls at 2 of the cross-country course’s 32 obstacles. Two riders failed to complete the course, ruining team medal hopes.

The United States’ greatest hope for an individual medal, Bruce Davidson of Unionville, Pa., was in good position on the next-to-last cross-country ride of the day when his horse, Dr. Peaches, lost a shoe and slid into the 20th obstacle.