Olympic champion Ian Thorpe created another slice of swimming history when he became the first person ever to win three consecutive world titles at the same distance when he led an Australian 1-2 in the men’s 400 metres freestyle race. The world record holder pushed compatriot Grant Hackett into the silver medal spot for the third time yesterday with the bronze going to Dragos Coman of Romania.But the 20-year-old Thorpedo’s dream of going one better than his six golds in Japan two years ago was over before it begun when the defending champions lost their 4X100m relay title to Russia.As a result, Thorpe shared the opening day limelight with veterans Alexander Popov and Jenny Thompson who anchored Russia and the United States to respective victory in the relays.Sprint legend Popov had to wait 12 years but finally won the 4X100m freestyle gold with the Russian team as Thompson equalled the most medals won at world championships with a total of ten - six gold, three silver and a bronze.The 30-year-old Thompson covered her 100m leg in a world record time of 53.44 seconds, way inside Inge De Bruijn’s world mark of 53.77, but it does not count as a record unless it is the first leg of the relay.‘‘I don’t know what it is but I just got very excited,’’ said Thompson, who took two years off the sport after the Sydney Olympics to begin medical school.Popov, the 50m world record holder, achieved his first world title since 1998, and the first during his 12 years with the relay team. Popov raced the final leg after teammates Andrei Kapralov, Ivan Usov and Denis Pimankov to clock a new championship record of 3min 14.06sec, ahead of the United States in 3:14.80.‘‘It’s a nice sort of forgotten feeling,’’ said the 30-year-old. ‘‘I’ve never been on the top of the podium for the 4X100m relay, so this is a pleasure. I’ve been dreaming about it since 1991.’’ And the four-time Olympic champion, who is competing in the 50m and 100m this week, warned his rivals: ‘‘This is only the beginning for me’’.Thorpe took the first gold of the championships when he clocked 3min 42.58sec, way outside his world record of 3:40:08 set at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Manchester, but enough to ease past Hackett. ‘‘If I had to race all over again I would do it differently,’’ said Thorpe, adding, I was quite comfortable in the earlier part of the race. I now realise why it was so comfortable, because it was a little bit slow. If I had to do it over again I probably would do it different and have gotten a better time if the swim had been better.’’And creating history is far from his mind at the moment. ‘‘It will probably mean more to me when I’m an old man trying to reflect on the past career I’ve had he said. I don’t look for those kind of accolades,’’ he said. ‘‘Enjoying the racing, hurting myself in that event to get the best, feels a greater achievement than being able to create that part of history.’’Thorpe anchored the relay team, but they were pipped to the line when France’s Frederick Bousquet, covered the final distance in a world record time of 47.03, to clinch the bronze. ‘‘I’m a little bit disappointed with the overall result for the relay team. We’ve done what we’ve done in the past but there was a really hot field out there,’’ said Thorpe.
