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Thorpe, Hackett rivalry continues in 800 metres
( 2001-07-23 15:25 ) (7 )

Olympic 400 metres champion Ian Thorpe and Sydney 1,500 gold medallist Grant Hackett met on middle ground on Monday with the Australians easily winning their respective 800 freestyle semifinals at the world championships.

Thorpe, who set an 800 world record of seven minutes 41.59 seconds at the Australian nationals in Hobart in March, clocked 7:52.74, while Hackett finished in 7:54.22 to set up an intriguing final on Tuesday.

With two gold medals already under his belt from the 400 and 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay on Sunday, Thorpe will be hoping to continue his drive for an unprecedented seven world championship golds.

But Hackett, who took silver behind Thorpe in the 400, said that he was "confident" of upsetting Thorpe in an event included on the programme at a world championships for the first time.

"That was easy. It felt really better than after last night's 400, which was a surprise. It would be nice to get revenge, but it's going to be a closer race than Hobart," said Hackett, who finished almost three seconds behind Thorpe at the Australian nationals after leading through 700 metres.

Thorpe, who set the 800 world record in his first-ever attempt at the distance, insisted he will not be concentrating on lowering the record again in Tuesday's final at Marine Messe Fukuoka.

CONSISTENCY AIM

"World records are not my priority. I want to swim consistently over all my events. I'm not bothered with records," said the 18-year-old from Sydney, who set his 14th individual world record in Sunday's 400 final.

Hackett, who had joked before the championships that Thorpe should skip the 800 to concentrate on avenging his loss to Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200 final in Sydney, agreed after his semifinal that Thorpe is "in the form of his life, again".

Hackett admitted that Thorpe holds the edge in a friendly rivalry which dates back to the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, also in Fukuoka.

"He's just a lot bigger and a lot more powerful. It's not an endurance or a stamina factor, or even ability. You can see when he races, he just kicks it up for that little bit and then holds everyone off," he said, referring to Thorpe's famed finishing burst.

Asked about his plan for beating Thorpe in the 800 final, Hackett said: "I'm not focusing too much on Ian. If you do that, you end up swimming his race and that can be detrimental. All I know is my fitness is better than at the Olympics and I'm feeling confident."

Thorpe, meanwhile, was predicting another fast race.

"I'm not concerned about the other swimmers. I'll have to take it out a bit harder at the start than in Hobart and hopefully I'll be able to bring it home hard again," he said.