French five poised for 100m showdown

Five French sprinters will tussle for two 100m freestyle spots at the London Olympics on Thursday, including 2008 Beijing gold medallist Alain Bernard. Bernard, Amaury Leveaux, Yannick Agnel, Fabien Gilot and Gregory Mallet all dipped below the 49-second barrier in the semi-finals on Wednesday at the national championships which double as the Olympic trials. Bernard was third quickest in the semi-finals with a time of 48.61sec, a time which boosted his hopes of booking his London spot. "I am satisfied with my time, especially the manner of it," said Bernard. "I wasn't really finding it tough so that pleased me." "In the final, it's going to be important to find the right balance between the two 50 metres." Leveaux, the 50m silver medallist in freestyle in Beijing, continued his good form, having already made sure of his place in the 200m freestyle in London. He clocked the best time of the semi-finals, 48.48sec. "It wasn't the goal to win the semi-final, but I am there. The final will be electric. I have already qualified in an individual event, so that takes a little of the pressure off me," he said. Leveaux's time was the seventh best in the world this year and the best by a French swimmer in 2012. Wednesday's only confirmed qualifier was Camille Muffat in the women's 200m freestyle with her 1min 54.87sec inside the qualifying time for the Games. It was the third time she had set a new French record in the distance and her win gave her a second individual qualifying place after also making the 400m freestyle. Laure Manaudou, already qualified for the 100m backstroke, won the 50m backstroke in a new national record of 28.13sec, but the distance is a non-Olympic event.