Coughlin, Peirsol get their gold

ATHENS, Greece — Michael Phelps came up short of gold.

Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol didn’t.

On a night when Phelps settled for bronze in his much-anticipated showdown with Ian Thorpe, the other two Americans won their first Olympic gold medals Monday.

Coughlin, the top female on the U.S. team, won the 100-meter backstroke, while Peirsol touched first in the men’s 100 back.

“I’m relieved to have it done with and get the gold,” said Coughlin, who won her first medal, a silver, as part of the 400 free relay Saturday. “There’s a lot of pressure on me, especially in that event. There’s relief to have it behind me.”

Same for Peirsol, who came in as the favorite and lived up to the billing.

“I’m elated,” he said. “It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.”

Peirsol, who wears contacts but has to leave them out when he’s in the pool, squinted as he looked at the scoreboard.

He didn’t want to look foolish by celebrating before he was sure the “1” was beside his name. The winning time was 54.06 seconds.

“I think I looked about three times before I was sure it was me,” he said. “I’ve made that mistake before.”

The only disappointment for Peirsol: His friend and mentor came up short of a medal. Lenny Krayzelburg, who won three gold medals in Sydney, finished fourth — just .02 out of third.

“It was definitely disappointing,” said Krayzelburg, who battled back from surgery on both shoulders to make the Olympic team. “I thought I could do better. I’ve been feeling so good. The times weren’t really fast, for whatever reason.

“A 54.06 won it. I definitely thought I could have been there. Sometimes, you have good days. Sometimes, you have bad days. Today was a bad day.”

Coughlin, the only woman to break a minute in the 100 back, failed to get another record. In fact, she struggled to hold off Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe in the final meters after going out too fast in the first 50.

“I was hurting out there,” Coughlin said. “But I have a gold medal, and I have it for life.”

The Americans recovered well from a disappointing performance Sunday. They still trail the Aussies in golds at the pool (4-3) but lead the overall medal race with 11.