-He already has a few European Championship title under his belt but was not a major sprinter in the world until this year's world record.
-He has the world record in the 100 Freestyle at 47.50, and also broke the 50 meter world record. However he only held it for four days when Australian sprinter Eamon Sullivan broke his record.
- French 4x100 free-relay team took 7th in the ' 04 Olympics without Alain in the relay; however France has another great sprinter who used to hold the NCAA 50 yard freestyle record. He was the first man to break 19 seconds in the 50 yard freestyle and is ranked 6th in the 50meter event this year. There are a couple other guys in the top 6 from France in the sprint event like Amaury Leveaux who was second in the 50 free. The French have some good sprinters in this Olympics; I can count 4 off the top of my head. Question is are they going to be good enough to match the USA?
-Alain is ranked 1st in the 100 free this year going in to the Olympics. He is followed by the 50-meter world record holder and three Americans under 48 seconds. They are all within 5/10 of a second (top 5).
- The sprint event is harder to see an improvement in because of how short the event is. However, those 5 guys I have mentioned do not include the 2004 Olympic champion or any of the finalist from '04. Wow! Every time the Olympic sprinting is exciting. This year, it's extra exciting.
Guest Blogger - Micah Belew
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