Port Macquarie’s Olympic shoe in, James Magnussen, suffered a shock loss in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the London 2012 games.
Magnussen, dubbed The Missile, backfired, clocking 48.03 seconds for his leg, touching second behind the Americans.
Magnussen, James Roberts, Eamon Sullivan and Matt Targett were beaten by the French, the USA (featuring Michael Phelps) and Russia.
France clocked 3 mins 09.93 secs to win, followed by the US (3:10.38) and Russia (3:11.41).
Australia finished in 3:11.63
However, The Missile is ready to fire up yet again and redeem his swimming prowess.
Magnussen had to back up on Tuesday night for the semi-final of the blue riband individual 100 metres freestyle race.
He clocked 47.63 to be clearly fastest into the final and back in for medal contention.
Being the current world champion, Magnussen was the favourite to win gold in the lead-up to the Olympics. The men’s final will be held this morning, Thursday, August 2.
Residents are encouraged to rise early and unite to watch our local hero and Sporting Fund recipient Magnussen’s tilt at Olympic glory at a special live site event in Port Macquarie’s Hay St Forecourt.
In a first for the region, all the action from the 100m Men’s Freestyle final at the London Olympics will be live telecast on a giant 5 x 7m screen within the Port Macquarie CBD, with the help of NBN Television.
The Olympic live site action will begin at 4.30am.
Magnussen was born on April 11, 1991 in Port Macquarie.
He is currently the 100-metre freestyle world champion, and holds the 4th fastest swim in history in the 100-metre freestyle with a time of 47.10.
He has won a total of five medals in major international competition, three golds and two silvers spanning the World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and the Pan Pacific Championships.
