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Hall's gold brings plenty of satisfaction to go around
= = SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) - Gary Hall Jr's victory in the Olympic 50m freestyle brought more than enough satisfaction to go around. Hall, runner-up to Alex Popov in both the 50m and 100m freestyle in Atlanta, finally mounted the top step of the podium on Friday as the Russian great stole away from the Sydney International Aquatic Centre, the sixth-placed finisher in the 50m freestyle. He saw the US flag raised and heard the anthem played, something his father Gary Sr, a three-time Olympian and US flagbearer in 1976, never experienced. The fact that his 19-year-old training partner Anthony Ervin was up there with him -- after they finished in a dead-heat for the gold -- was almost a bonus. "It feels great!" Hall said. "I don't mind sharing the gold medal. I couldn't be sharing it with a nicer guy." "There's a million reasons why I shouldn't have gotten this," Hall added. "Like diabetes, like all the turmoil I've been through. To come out on top is just a big thrill." When he was diagnosed with diabetes in March of 1999, Hall was advised to give up swimming. But he fought the illness with the same fervour he once brought to his battles against authority. Now the 25-year-old swimmer, who in his time has challenged US Swimming rules that he sees as petty and served a three-month FINA-imposed ban for marijuana use, is expending his energy in different ways. "He's clean, he has changed his life," said Gary Hall Snr, who was at poolside for his son's triumph even though a nasty bout of Sydney flu sent him to the hospital for a couple of hours on Tuesday. "His goal in life is to be an inspiration to diabetics." The burden of living up to his father's reputation is often cited as the source of some of Hall's more antic behavior. But Hall said he felt no sense of one-upping his father in winning an Olympic title. "He was still able to accomplish more than I see myself doing," Hall said. "But it is as satisfying for me as for anyone else. I don't think it's redemption for my father, and I think he still has one-upped me." Getting the better of Popov was an achievement that he seemed destined to miss when his illness was diagnosed. He admitted that it felt good, but not because of their sometimes bitter verbal battles. "He's been the guy to beat for a long time," Hall said. "That was a legitimate rivalry. It's very satisfying to beat him, not because of the rivalry but because he's such a great swimmer." The presence of Ervin alongside him was fitting, Hall said, because it's the support and friendly rivalry among the swimmers in coach Mike Bottom's international sprint group that has allowed him to finally get the gold. "We trained together the whole summer," he said of Ervin. "We definitely have pushed each other. Whether that's in the pool or the weight room or whatever, we pushed ourselves to limits that I would never have reached.
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