Showdown: Thorpedo vs. Phelps

ATHENS, Greece – When Michael Phelps was trying to settle on which events he would enter at the Olympics, his coach jokingly suggested he give up the 200-meter freestyle.

No way.

This is the one we’ve all been waiting for — especially Phelps, who has longed for the chance to go head-to-head with Ian Thorpe for an Olympic gold medal.

Today, it finally happens.

“It will be the race of the century,” said Bertrand Bristol, a little-known swimmer from the Seychelle Islands.

They are the two greatest male swimmers of this generation: Thorpe, who already has four gold medals in his trophy case; and Phelps, who was audacious enough to challenge Mark Spitz’s record haul of seven golds at one games.

Phelps lost his chance to break Spitz’s record when the Americans struggled to a bronze in the 400 free relay Sunday, their worst showing ever in that event. If he doesn’t beat Thorpe, the quest to win seven golds will be over, too.

In Sunday’s relay, South Africa blew away the field with a world-record victory in 3 minutes, 13.17 seconds. Anchor Jason Lezak had the U.S. team in second, but his efforts to bring the team back from a disastrous start left him depleted at the end, giving the Netherlands silver in 3:14.36.

Third was the worst finish ever by the United States, which had dominated the event from 1964 to 1996, until losing to Australia at the 2000 games.

The Americans had to play a frantic game of catch-up right from the beginning, after an ill Ian Crocker put them in last place on the opening leg.

When Phelps and Thorpe meet in the water today, the star-studded field will also include defending Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands.

But the focus remains clearly on Thorpe, who holds the world record, and Phelps, the 19-year-old challenger from Baltimore.

This will be their only head-to-head meeting in an individual event.

This is clearly Thorpe’s territory, the Aussie having posted eight of the top nine times in swimming history, including the world record of 1 minute, 44.6 seconds.

Phelps’ best time in the 200 is 1:45.99.

“It’s going to take a fast time to win,” Phelps said. “It’s going to be a very challenging event.”

Thorpe insisted that he wasn’t spending too much time worrying about Phelps.

“I don’t look too much at my competitors,” he said. “I’m focusing in on what I have to do. If I can do that and do it well, I’ll have a good 200.”