Thorpe rules water world

Australia8217;s Ian Thorpe won the gold medal in the men8217;s 200 metres freestyle, dubbed the 8220;race of the century8221;, at the At...

Australia8217;s Ian Thorpe won the gold medal in the men8217;s 200 metres freestyle, dubbed the 8220;race of the century8221;, at the Athens Olympics on Monday.

Thorpe emerged triumphant in a time of one minute 44.71 seconds 8212; just 0.65 outside the world record he set at the 2001 world championships 8212; to claim his second gold in Athens after winning the 400 freestyle two days ago.

8220;It was tough and I did feel a bit tired,8221; said Thorpe. 8220;But I was able to produce a pretty good performance and I8217;m ecstatic about the result.8221;

Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands, the gold medallist in Sydney four years ago, took silver in 1:45.23 while American Michael Phelps collected the bronze in 1:45.32.

The 200 freestyle final lived up to all its hype when van den Hoogenband set out at a cracking pace, leading the field through the first 150 under world record pace.

He was still in front turning for home but Thorpe, who had been second all the way, mowed him down to win by half a body length.

Phelps, promised 1 million if he could win at least seven gold medals in Athens, was fourth after 50 but moved into third at the halfway stage and was not able to improve his position despite a late surge.

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Thorpe, van den Hoogenband and Phelps are the three most recognisable faces in swimming and their first three-way clash was always going to be treated like a heavyweight prize-fight.

Thorpe won his first world title as a 15-year-old and won three gold two silver medals as a 17-year-old. He won a fourth gold in Athens when he successfully defended his 400 title on Saturday and his fifth makes him Australia8217;s greatest Olympian.

He has dominated the 200 over the past four years and his only defeat came at the last Olympics when he finished second to van den Hoogenband, who also won the 100 in Sydney.

Asked what he had told Thorpe when they embraced after the race, van den Hoogenband said: 8220;I told him we were even now.8221;

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Phelps had not swum the 200 at a major international event before Athens but included it in his programme after announcing he would try and better Mark Spitz8217;s record of winning seven gold medals at a single Olympics.

He was barely noticed in Sydney when he failed to win a medal as a 15-year-old, but he made everyone sit up and take notice when he set five world records and won four gold medals at last year8217;s world championships. Reuters