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Phelps advised to take it easy
Australian swimming greats Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett are suggesting American sensation Michael Phelps should not be burdened by his unprecedented quest for eight Olympic gold medals. Thorpe and Hackett, both Sydney Olympic gold medal winners, hinted a high-flying expectation might lead to troubles in giving out best performances in the pool due to the usually unexpected outcome from the previous Olympic swimming competitions. "You got to stop putting pressures on yourself (by setting that kind of task)," said Hackett, who is going to defend the 1,500m freestyle title he collected from the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. "If you keep on doing it, winning six gold medals would be a big disappointment. "But that's already a big result," he said. Phelps was in a sizzling form while heading into the Athens Games by breaking world marks on 200m individual medley during the US trials last month. The teenager, who bears widespread appreciation as the world's most versatile and best swimmer, is hoping to eclipse Mark Spitz's record of winning seven Olympic gold medals in one games. He has already surpassed Spitz's record of most world records set in individual events at a single meet during last year's Barcelona World Championships by putting five world marks under his name. But Thorpe, a possible contender with Phelps in three relay events, who won three gold medals in Sydney and has set 22 world records since 1999, said the risk of swimming for gold would be huge. "I don't swim for medals, I swim for performance," said the Aussie, tagged as "Thorpedo", when asked about his approach into the Olympic Games. "The difference between them is that you have control over your own performance (when you swim for medals), not where you come in a race. It's the best way to approach competition (when you swim for performance)." Thorpe warned that it would be very easy to be distracted in the Games. "I am trying to stay relaxed and comfortable and not become distracted, which is not easy even though I am an experience athlete. "I just want to make sure there are not any emotional highs and lows." "Being at the Olympic Games is all very exciting, but you just have to keep reminding yourself that you can enjoy it all in the second week," he added. Thorpe also said the Olympic contention would be highly unexpected as usual and it is even hard to predict the final eight. Being tipped as the hot favourite in 200m freestyle, the Australian lost the event to Sydney big winner Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband four years ago. This time, Thorpe is looking lightly at his possible confrontation with Phelps, which is believed to be one of the most classic swimming rivalries in the Athens Olympic pool. "I think he is an exceptional athlete and that he will have a successful Olympic Games. "But for me just to look at one other competitor isn't right. It wouldn't do justice to the others in the race. "It's gonna to be a tough race and I think it's gonna be a very fast race." The Thorpe-Phelps rivalry has been amplified to an Australia-US rivalry, especially on relay events. But the Aussies said there is much more than the US team to conquer in Athens. "The US has re-established themselves as one of the best teams in the world," said Thorpe. "But we also have a strong team and so do others." "It is not fair to say that the race is just between Australia and the US," said Hackett. "The Russians have an incredible team, France has come a long way and South Africa swam better than we did at the last World Championships. "So it's going to be a race with so many good teams and not a head-to-head between us and the States." |
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