Australia's Libby Trickett has pulled out of one of her events at the Beijing Games in August, ending her chances of matching the record for the most gold medals won by a woman at a single Olympics.
Trickett had originally entered six events but announced today she was cutting back to five races after withdrawing from the Australian 4x200 metres relay because she already had a hectic programme.
"It's a personal choice for me and there wasn't any one reason but more a whole combination of factors that led me to make that decision," Trickett said in a statement.
"It's a matter of the timing of everything and obviously I would have had to post a time to be considered to swim in the relay and it would have been difficult for me to post a time good enough to be on that relay in mid-season training."
Trickett will now concentrate on the 50 and 100 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and the 4x100 freestyle and 4x100 medley relays.
She won gold medals in all five events at last year's world championships in Melbourne and has high hopes of repeating the feat in Beijing. She currently holds the world record for both freestyle sprints.
Trickett also swam in the 4x200 at Melbourne, but Australia finished out of the medals in fourth place, as the United States set a world record.
East German swimmer Kristin Otto holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics by a female after collecting six titles at the Seoul Games in 1988.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily July 1, 2008)