KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - Moss Burmester has finished a courageous fourth in the Olympic Games 200m butterfly final but many New Zealanders were unable to see it after satellite communications problems blacked out TVNZ's coverage.
Burmester went head-to-head with American sensation Michael Phelps, who won the race in world record time to clinch his fourth gold of the Games and a record 10th overall.
However, thousands of Kiwis trying to watch the race on Sky TV and Freeview missed out because of what a TVNZ spokeswoman called a "satellite glitch".
The spokeswoman said technicians were trying to put a recording of the crucial race on to the TVNZ website.
Viewers relying on the ordinary terrestrial signal from the national chain of TV translators were not affected.
TVNZ was also expected to play the finish of the race on its news broadcast.
Burmester, the first New Zealander to make a Games swimming final since 1996, made his intentions clear when he went with Phelps at world record pace for 150m.
Burmester paid the price in the final 50m, getting swamped out of the medals.
While he could not hold on, Burmester smashed his own New Zealand record.
Swimming in lane one, he clocked one minute 54.35 seconds, obliterating the previous record, 1min 55.99sec.
Phelps won in a world record 1min 52.03sec, with Laszlo Cseh of Hungary second, and Japan's Takeshi Matsuda third.
In winning Phelps became the first athlete in history to win 10 Olympic Games gold medals - six in Athens four years ago, and four in Beijing.
Burmester, buoyed by the pre-race glimpse of his parents Greg and Bronwen and a roar from his teammates, produced the best New Zealand effort of the Games to date.
"I gave it everything and I had nothing left. I left it all in the pool. Just disappointed I didn't get up there for a medal but...," Burmester said.
"I couldn't tell where I was. I was hurting and just trying to pick it up but I just had nothing there.
"The whole thing was reasonably painful but the last 40m was really really tough, and the last 10m it feels like you've got lead arms."
The plan was to go hard from the start, and hope to break 1.53 in order to climb the dais.
"I knew I'd have to go out a lot quicker than I had been. I was just trying to hold on. Looking at the splits I may have gone a little bit too quick.
"It's mixed feelings, I was hoping to actually go quicker than that (overall). I thought I'd probably have to, to get a medal.
"I'm happy with a pb (personal best) but I was expecting a pb. If I hadn't I'd have been very disappointed."
Burmester refused to use his pre-race stomach upset, which had him unable to eat on Sunday, as an excuse.
For Burmester, there's still tomorrow's 100m butterfly heats - his secondary event - and Friday's 4x100m medley relay.
"The 100's a different race. Today shows I've got some speed there which is a good sign.
"I'm just tired, shattered, and looking forward to having a rest."
Phelps has since added to that tally after the US team won gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay, smashing the world record by 4.68 seconds and taking Phelps one step closer to his goal of beating Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single games.
Phelps barely smiled as he looked at the board, breathing heavily and hanging on the lane rope. He rubbed his eyes and said climbing from the pool, "I can't see anything." A pair of leaky goggles kept him from even seeing the wall as he finished.
"My goggles kept filling up with water during the race," he said. "I wanted a world record, I wanted 1:51 or better, but in the circumstances not too bad I guess."
Meanwhile, Burmester's New Zealand teammate Glenn Snyders could not emulate his heroics in the men's 200m breaststroke, swimming 2min 12.07sec for eighth in his semifinal
Snyders finished 16th in the event.
- NZPA, AP
* Video courtesy of Television New Zealand www.tvnz.co.nz/beijing2008
