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Thorpe and Van den Hoogenband - the future of freestyle
SYDNEY, Sept 24 (AFP) - The scene has been set for a major showdown in the future between Pieter van den Hoogenband of Holland, the major revelation of the Sydney Games, and Australian star Ian Thorpe. These Olympics marked the changing of the old guard, with a new generation of sprinters pushing aside former greats. But while Thorpe had been expected to dominate here it was the flying Dutchman who proved himself to be one of the rising stars of the freestyle. The Dutchman has earned a reputation for not being over-awed by the reputations of others, after proving Thorpe was not invincible by winning the 200m final, and going on to defeat legendary Russian Alexander Popov in the 100m. Thorpe may have recorded the highest men's medal tally in the pool with three gold and two silver, but van den Hoogenband got the vote as the swimmer of the Games after winning gold in the 100m and 200m and breaking both world records. "I did one step in swimming and Pieter did another one, so we're moving forward," said Popov, 28, after losing his 100m title. Double gold medallist Popov, who had been bidding to become the first swimmer to win the same event in the 50m and 100m at three consecutive Olympics, admitted: "The field is tough. It's getting tougher and tougher after every competition." But Popov was nowhere to be seen after failing even to medal in the 50m freestyle, with Americans Gary Hall Jr. and rising 19-year-old American sprinter Anthony Ervin tying for gold, with van den Hoogenband taking bronze. Popov's Australian training partner Michael Klim, 23, who broke the 100m freestyle world record in the first leg of the relay, only for it to be broken in 47.84 by van den Hoogenband in the semi-finals, failed to medal. "It was really tough. The last few metres were probably the hardest. I was forcing myself," said Klim. Van den Hoogenband, who had been the only swimmer to beat Popov in the 100m free in the past eight years, proved his 1999 European Championships triumph over the Russian in both the 50m and the 100m free, was not just a flash in the pan. "I won two gold medals and broke the world record. At the moment I'm the best," admitted van den Hoogenband. "But what Alex has achieved in the past. He's great. He's a legend." But van den Hoogenband, 22, is already being tipped as the new king, along with the 17-year-old Thorpe, who also hinted he would like to extend the number of races he competes in to cover the shorter distances. Van den Hoogenband's rivals said his two individual titles had earned him the title of the swimmer of the Games. "I think Pieter has done a fantastic job here," said double gold medallist Gary Hall Jr. of the United States. "He's the greatest 200-100 freestyle man in the world, there's no doubt about it," said American Josh Davis. "He did the fastest 100m free ever and made it look like it was really easy." The Flying Dutchman - with his two individual golds and two world records and bronze in the relay and 50m - in many ways superseded Thorpe as the best swimmer of the Games. Thorpe set a world record in winning the 400m free and swam in the finals as Australia won both the 4x100m and 4x200m free relays. But the Dutchman stunned the home crowd when he snatched the world record in the 200m semis from Thorpe, who had lowered the mark four times in little more than a year, and matched his world record of 1:45.35 in the final. "I won two gold medals and broke the world record. At the moment I'm the best," conceded van den Hoogenband. "I'm in the best shape of my life. I trained really, really hard for these Games and I'm getting much stronger," he added.
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