Mark Spitz's record haul of seven gold medals at a single
Olympics will not be threatened by compatriot Michael Phelps at the
Beijing Games in August, according to retired
Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe.
|
Ian Thorpe (Photo:
Xinhua)
|
Five-time Olympic gold medalist Thorpe, who retired at the age of
24, said tough competition for Phelps will mean Spitz's haul at the
1972 Games in Munich will remain the benchmark.
"I wish him all the very best. I don't think he will do it, but
I'd love to see it," the 25-year-old told reporters in Beijing on
Monday.
"There's a thing called competition. It won't just be one
athlete that will be competing, and in a lot of events he has a lot
of strong competition," Thorpe said.
American Phelps, 22, who will choose an event program in Beijing
that will give him every chance to beat Spitz's record, won six
golds in Athens in 2004.
Thorpe won three golds as a 17-year-old at the 2000 Sydney
Olympics and did the 200m and 400m freestyle double in Athens.
He announced his retirement in November 2006, citing a lack of
motivation.
Thorpe said he was content with life after competition and had
no desire to return to the pool competitively.
"I have had inklings of getting back in and swimming, not
competitively, but they last for like five seconds, and then I'm
over it again," he said.
"For those brief five seconds it's a wonderful thought, but it's
not going to happen until I can think about it for at least five
minutes."
In November, swimming's world governing body FINA said it had
abandoned its investigation into Thorpe after Australian doping
authorities cleared him of any wrongdoing. The case came to light
in March after test results were leaked to a French newspaper.
Thorpe, who has always maintained his innocence and vowed to
take legal action once the case was closed, said he was still
scarred from the controversy.
"I feel exactly the same way as before ... I don't know the
words to be able to explain my grief in dealing with this and how I
felt during that time and how I continue to feel to this day, being
accused of something I was opposed to throughout my career," Thorpe
said.
"I'm still working through that and there will be a resolution,
I can tell you that, and it will happen in the next couple of
years."
(Agencies via China Daily January 30, 2008)
