July 25, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

BARCELONA, July 24: American teen Michael Phelps moved into the starring role at the world swimming championships on Thursday when he smashed his own 200m individual medley world record, as the bubble burst for Australian superstar Ian Thorpe.

Thorpe had to settle for bronze for the first time in an individual race since he became the youngest world champion, aged 15, in 1998 by winning the 400m freestyle.

The 11-time world champion came third in the 100m freestyle behind Russian sprint legend Alexander Popov who became the first swimmer to win three world titles in the event.

Phelps then dived in for the 200m medley semifinals and clocked 1:57.52 to smash the previous mark of 1:57.94 he achieved in Santa Clara last June when he broke Jani Sievinen’s nine-year-old record, the oldest in men’s swimming.

And the 18-year-old warned there was more to come.

It is the second world record here for the American who broke his own 200m butterfly mark on his way to successfully defending that title. He also holds the record for the 400m medley.

Thorpe qualified fifth fastest for Friday’s 200m individual medley final in 2:00.42.

But the 20-year-old remained upbeat about his bronze.

Thorpe, 20, has already claimed three golds here - winning a record third straight 400m title, successfully defending his 200m title, and anchoring the Australian team to a third straight 4x200m relay title.

But his dream of matching his six gold at the last championships is now definitively over.

The 31-year-old Popov reclaimed the title he last won in 1998, in a time of 48.42 with Olympic champion and world record holder Pieter Van Den Hoogenband taking silver in 48.68 with Thorpe in 48.77.

European champion Van den Hoogenband, 25, had to settle for silver for the second time.

It was the second gold here for Popov, twice Olympic champion over both 50m and 100m freestyle, who anchored the Russian team to gold in the 4x100m relay after 12 years chasing chasing that title.

Earlier Japanese ace Kosuke Kitajima clinched his second world record and second gold medal with a stunning victory in the 200m breaststroke.

Kitajima, who became the first world champion from Japan by winning the 100m breaststroke in a world record time earlier in the week, clocked 2:09.42 to reclaim the record from Dmitri Komornikov of Russia, who set the previous mark of 2:09.52 here in Barcelona just last month.

Britain’s Ian Edmond took silver in 2:10.92 with the bronze going to Brendan Hansen of the United Staes in 2:11.11.

It is the second time that the 20-year-old Kitajima has broken the 200m breaststroke mark - the first came at the Asian Games in Busan last year when he smashed Mike Barrowman’s previous best which had stood for ten years.

The United States won the women’s 4x200m relay title for the first time with their team of Lindsay Benko, Rachel Komisarz, Rhiannon Jeffrey and Diana Munz.

Earlier, European champion Nina Zhivanevskaya gave Spain their first ever women’s world gold by winning the 50m backstroke title.

The 26-year-old from Malaga timed 28.48sec to come in ahead of Ilona Hlavackova of the Czech Republic in 28.50 with Japan’s Noriko Inada taking bronze in 28.62.

Finals results

Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay: 1. United States seven minutes 55.70 seconds 2. Australia 7:58.42 3. China 7:58.53 4. Britain 8:00.01 5. Spain 8:03.84 6. Sweden 8:05.05 7. Netherlands 8:05.82 8. Canada 8:08.42

Men’s 100m freestyle: 1. Alexander Popov (Russia) 48.42 2. Pieter Van Den Hoogenband (Netherlands) 48.68 3. Ian Thorpe (Australia) 48.77 4. Jason Lezak (U.S.) 48.94 5. Andrei Kapralov (Russia) 48.95 6. Frederick Bousquet (France) 49.30 7. Ryk Neethling (South Africa) 49.51 8. Milorad Cavic (Yugoslavia) 49.65

Women’s 200m butterfly: 1. Otylia Jedrzejczak (Poland) 2:07.56 2. Eva Risztov (Hungary) 2:07.68 3. Yuko Nakanishi (Japan) 2:08.08 4. Mary Descenza (U.S.) 2:08.38 5. Francesca Segat (Italy) 2:09.49 6. Annika Mehlhorn (Germany) 2:09.61 7. Felicity Galvez (Australia) 2:10.58 8. Roser Vives (Spain) 2:12.89

Men’s 200m breaststroke: 1. Kosuke Kitajima (Japan) 2:09.42 (World Record) 2. Ian Edmond (Britain) 2:10.92 3. Brendan Hansen (U.S.) 2:11.11 4. Jim Piper (Australia) 2:11.55 5. Dmitry Komornikov (Russia) 2:12.30 6. Andrey Ivanov (Russia) 2:13.20 7. Michael Brown (Canada) 2:13.30 8. Maxim Podoprigora (Austria) 2:13.33

Women’s 50m backstroke: 1. Nina Zhivanevskaya (Spain) 28.48 2. Ilona Hlavackova (Czech Republic) 28.50 3. Noriko Inada (Japan) 28.62 4. Jennifer Carroll (Canada) 28.65 5. Sandra Volker (Germany) 28.69 6. Louise Ornstedt (Denmark) 28.93 7. Laure Manaudou (France) 28.98 8. Haley Cope (U.S.) 28.99