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Riding on Nothstein earns rematch against defending champion
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Four years of waiting are over for Marty Nothstein. He finally has his rematch with the German who relegated him to a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics. Nothstein, of Trexlertown, Pa., beat Craig MacLean of Britain in two match sprint races, sweeping the best-of-3 pairing on Tuesday night to advance to the semifinals. He'll ride Wednesday against Jens Fielder, the two-time Olympic gold medalist who beat him by a tire width in Atlanta. "It's a big day. I've been waiting for it four years,: Nothstein said after beating MacLean. "I've been training extremely hard. Every training session has been geared for these next couple of days." Marcelo Arrue of Woodland Hills, Calif., placed 11th after finishing third in the race that determines final placing in the tournament-style match sprint. He had been eliminated from medal contention on Monday night. Tanya Lindenmuth, also of Trexlertown, Pa., got a tough lesson from the world's best rider. She lost both of her quarterfinal matches against five-time world champion Felicia Ballanger of France. Lindenmuth, 21, led Ballanger on the backstretch of both rides but Ballanger pumped her massive legs and blew past the young American each time. There wasn't much Lindenmuth, riding at the Olympics for the first time, could do. "I rode great," she said with a broad smile. "It's nice to put some fear into Ballanger. She kept her eye on me the whole time." It was a dramatic night at the Olympic velodrome, with the Germans posting the world's first sub-four minute time to beat Ukraine in the gold medal race of the 4,000-meter team pursuit in three minutes, 59.710 seconds. Guido Fulst, Robert Bartko, Daniel Becke and Jens Lehmann broke the world record of 4:00.830, set one hour earlier in the semifinals by Ukrainians Oleksandr Fedenko, Oleksandr Symonenko, Sergiy Matveyev and Sergiy Cheernyavskyy. Ukraine was timed in 4:04.520 in the gold medal race. Britain won the bronze medal race in 4:01.979, beating France. In Monday's quarterfinals the Germans had set an Olympic record, one of seven Olympic and three world records that have been posted at the Dunc Gray Velodrome through the first four days of competition. The Germans and Ukrainians made things exciting for the Australian fans, but Nothstein made sure they had nothing unusual to cheer whenever he was on the track. He won the first match easily, then surprised MacLean by swooping down on a corner and passing him in the second race. "I wish we were still racing, to be honest with you," Nothstein said. "I had some good rides and once I get on a roll, I don't want to stop." Fielder nipped Nothstein in Atlanta with a photo finish, a moment that has motivated the American ever since. "I'm excited and I know I'll be waking up bright and early, thinking about the race," Nothstein said. "It's going to be a restless night of sleep."
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