Great Aussie swim machine winds down before take-off

A few miles into the drive from airport to downtown, the image of the elite swimmer looms on several billboards. Michael Phelps? No, Ian Tho...

A few miles into the drive from airport to downtown, the image of the elite swimmer looms on several billboards. Michael Phelps? No, Ian Thorpe.

When the American swim team returned here on Tuesday after six days of training in Spain, Phelps got a reminder of the individual and the nation that stand between him and Olympic history. Phelps is the hottest swimmer in the world, but Thorpe still carries enough weight to have adidas drop considerable coin using him to promote its brand.

He could be the biggest obstacle in Phelps8217; bid to match, or perhaps surpass, the seven gold medals won by Mark Spitz in 1972. That quest might be moot midway through swimming8217;s eight-day run at the Athens Olympics.

On Monday, Phelps will try to crash the 200-meter freestyle. Thorpe is the favorite there, and the next night he8217;ll anchor Australia in the 800-meter freestyle relay, in which his homeland has long been invincible.

Like Michael Johnson8217;s 200-meter dash in Atlanta eight years ago, swimming8217;s 200 freestyle could be the seminal race here. Thorpe underscored why, when he was asked about the presence of Phelps. 8216;8216;He8217;s an excellent athlete, and I think he8217;ll have a successful Games,8217;8217; Thorpe said. 8216;8216;But for me to look at one competitor is not fair. Look at what happened in Sydney.8217;8217;

At 18, Thorpe carried the weight of his hometown and the host nation at the 2000 Olympics. On swimming8217;s opening night, he won the 400 freestyle and anchored a raucous win in the 400 freestyle relay.

Sydney underwent a mood swing in the next 48 hours, as Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands took the 200 freestyle world record from Thorpe in the semifinals, and the next night beat him to the gold medal. Thorpe lowered the world record to 1 minute, 44.06 seconds in July 2001, but he hasn8217;t broken 1:45 in the past two years.

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Van den Hoogenband is back. Grant Hackett, another Australian, is No. 3 all-time, and Phelps has shown signs that he is ready to bust up his American record of 1:45.99. 8216;8216;There are so many good swimmers involved in that race,8217;8217; van den Hoogenband said. 8216;8216;It8217;s something extra.8217;8217;

nbsp;	8216;I8217;ll be happy with one gold8217;

		nbsp;	8226; ATHENS: Michael Phelps insisted on Wednesday that he would be happy with a single gold medal despite his campaign to win a Games record eight titles. 8216;8216;My goal is to win one gold medal and then go on from there8217;8217;, he told a news conference. 8216;8216;I8217;d be happy with one gold medal. How many people in the world have one gold medal?8217;8217; 8216;8216;I wouldn8217;t say anything is impossible8217;8217;, Phelps, 19, said about the face-off with Thorpe. 8216;8216;In 1980, no one said the US could beat the Russians in ice hockey.8217;8217; Besides the 200m freestyle, Phelps is entered in the 100m and 200m butterfly, the 200m and 400m individual medley and three relays. Reuters	nbsp;

But the Aussies didn8217;t seem to mind the pressure. 8216;8216;I feel more at ease here than I did in Sydney,8217;8217; Hackett said. 8216;8216;The whole team is more relaxed.8217;8217;

His head shaved, Hackett looked like a commando. His hair meticulously disheveled, Thorpe is eager to stop making news away from the pool. Thorpe was second to Phelps in the 200 individual medley at last year8217;s world championships, then dropped the event to protect his freestyle turf.

Last December, he became the first to discount Phelps8217; chances. At the Australian trials in March, Thorpe false-started in the 400 freestyle, where he8217;s a lock, but gained a berth when teammate Craig Stevens withdrew. If he wins the 400 freestyle, has he ruled out giving Stevens the gold medal? 8216;8216;I8217;m not ruling it in, either,8217;8217; Thorpe said.

LA Times-Washington Post