Australian teenage swimming sensation Ian Thorpe lived up to pre-tournament expectation to smash his own world record in sensational style in the men’s 400m freestyle event in Sydney on Saturday. His time of 3min 40.59sec took almost a second off the world record he set at the Australian Olympic Trials on May 13.
The Sydney superkid, being egged on by chants of ‘Thorpey’ from the 17,500 sell-out crowd, was never headed after shooting into the lead in his trademark full-length black bodysuit. Thorpe, who had smashed the Olympic record in the heats earlier today, has now set seven world records in his home pool at 200m and 400m freestyle in the last 13 months.
Italy’s Massimiliano Rosolino was the only man to keep the hugely-talented swimmer within sight for the first 300 metres, but he never looked like posing a threat. The Italian's compensation was the silver in 3:43.40 making him the second fastest man in history after Thorpe, who will bid for a second gold in the 4x100m relay later today. Klete Keller of the USA was almost seven seconds down on Thorpe but that was good enough to give him the bronze by just 0.01 seconds from Italy's Emiliano Brembilla.
Meanwhile, in the women’s category, Yana Klochkova of the Ukraine also set a new world record in the 400m individual medley, winning the Olympic gold medal in a time of 4min 33.59sec. She broke the previous record of 4:34.79 set by China's Chen Yan on October 13, 1997. Yasuko Tajima of Japan finished second in a time of 4:35.96, while Romania’s Beatrice Nicoleta Caslaru claimed the bronze with a time of 4:37.18.
PA
Filed by Shane Murray
