Australian media on Tuesday hailed Ian Thorpe’s 200m freestyle victory in the ”race of the century” at the Athens pool and crowned the swimmer this nation’s best Olympian to date.
”The win of the century”, national broadsheet The Australian screamed above a picture of Thorpe punching the air in delight as Pieter van den Hoogenband, who beat Thorpe in the same race in Sydney four years ago, reached over to congratulate him.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Thorpe’s triumph in the ”race of the century” — so called because it featured the sport’s biggest names — proved to anyone who doubted his enduring talent ”that he is far from past his best”.
Aside from Thorpe and Van den Hoogenband, American Michael Phelps — who was hotly tipped to win seven golds ahead of the Games — and Grant Hackett also took part in the race.
Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph called it the ”swim of the century”.
Thorpe’s win brought his gold-medal tally in Athens to two and his career haul to five, surpassing Australian swimmers Dawn Fraser and Murray Rose, and athlete Betty Cuthbert, who all won four golds.
”Ian Thorpe crushed the greatest 200m freestyle field ever assembled today to become our most successful Olympian with five gold medals,” The Telegraph said.
Thorpe also won the 400m freestyle race earlier in the Games, retaining the title he took at the Sydney Olympics. But Monday’s race gave him the chance to avenge Van den Hoogenband’s surprise win in the event at the 2000 Games.
As the Telegraph‘s Mike Colman wrote: ”This race wasn’t just about speed. It was about supremacy and redemption, egos and expectation, bragging rights and getting square.”
But it wasn’t just Thorpe making headlines in Australia.
Petria Thomas’s victory in the 100m butterfly earned just as many plaudits because of the adversity the 28-year-old overcame.
Thomas has been through three shoulder reconstructions in an injury-plagued career, making her first individual gold at her third Olympics all the sweeter.
”Hail the new queen,” said The Australian while the Telegraph dubbed her the ”bionic butterfly”. — Sapa-AP
Special Report: Olympics 2004