Thorpe grabs third gold despite off-day
Derek Parr
Ian Thorpe had an off-day on Wednesday but still collected his third gold medal in his pursuit of an unprecedented seven at the Commonwealth Games.
The 19-year-old Australian, who broke his own world record for the 400 metres Fsreestyle on Tuesday, appeared to be heading for another when he swam inside his own world record pace for the first three lengths of the 200 metres Freestyle.
But not even the dominant Thorpe can produce a world record with every swim and this time the famed kick of his size-17 feet did not provide the devastating finish that is his hallmark and he dropped off the pace down the last 50 metres.
He hit the wall in a Games record one minute 44.71 seconds, outside the 1:44.06 world mark he set at the world championships in Japan last year but nonetheless faster than anyone else has ever swum the distance.
"I'm a little bit disappointed with the time but I had probably the worst warm-up I've ever had," Thorpe said.
"I swam it well, I just wasn't feeling 100 percent -- not healthwise, I just wasn't with it as much as I was last night.
"I had a lot of sleep, plenty of time between the races, the heats and the finals. It's just one of those things. I probably haven't recovered as quick as I could have. I've just had an off-day.
"It's still a great time and I'm happy at going under 1:45 but I would have been a bit happier if I had gone under 1:44 this evening."
SILVER AGAIN
Thorpe, carrying nearly five kilos in weight more than usual in the hope of deriving extra sprinting power, led throughout from fellow Australian Grant Hackett, silver medallist behind him in the 400 and silver medallist yet again.
Hackett, world and Olympic champion over 1,500 metres, clocked 1:46.13 for the umpteenth second place he has taken behind Thorpe. Canada's Rick Say took the bronze in 1:49.40.
Thorpe, who won four Commonwealth golds in 1998 at the age of 15, opened his bid for seven golds in rousing style on Tuesday. In addition to the 400 title he anchored Australia to victory in the 4x100 Freestyle relay.
Thorpe's latest victory brought Australia's golden tally to three on the night and six out of 10 from the first two days of the six-day competition in the Manchester Aquatics Centre.
Petria Thomas, bronze medallist in Tuesday's 200 metres Freestyle, swooped to her first gold in her eight-event campaign when she won the 50 metres butterfly by nearly half a second in a one-two with fellow Australian Nicole Irving.
Scotland's Alison Sheppard third. Thomas clocked 26.66.
Compatriot Matt Welsh, who will attempt to halt Thorpe's gold rush in the 100 metres backstroke, denied the challenge of Malaysia's Alex Lim by a whisker in the 50 backstroke, winning in 25.65.
BAKER TRIUMPHS
Zoe Baker, who smashed the women's 50 metres breaststroke world record in Tuesday's semi-finals, scored a runaway victory in the final to bring hosts England their second swimming title of the Games after Karen Pickering's 200 metres Freestyle gold on Tuesday.
All three events -- the butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke one-length sprints -- are new to the Commonwealth Games programme.
New Zealand-based Baker won handsomely by more than a second in 30.60, a mere 0.03 seconds outside her world mark. South Africa's Sarah Poewe, who suffered neck and arm injuries in a car accident earlier this month before flying to Manchester, took the silver in 31.73.
Poewe's compatriot Natalie du Toit, who had her left leg amputated at the knee after a scooter accident in February 2001, won the multi-disability women's 50 metres Freestyle.
Du Toit, who competed in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in the 200 metres butterfly, clocked a world record for the S9 group of 29.53 seconds in the morning's heats and won the final in 29.68.
It is the first time able-bodied and disabled swimmers have competed under the same banner in the Commonwealth Games.
