Swimming: Thorpe beaten in farcical finish
Australian Ian Thorpe’s golden run finally came to an end in the World Championships 100m freestyle final that looks set to spark more controversy in Japan today.
Thorpe’s defeat in his bid for a fifth gold medal in Fukuoka was the only certainty after the timing system again went wrong.
Holland’s Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband initially celebrated the gold medal as the scoreboard had him first.
But it was clear that he had been trailing world 50m champion Anthony Ervin whose time did not register all along and after a delay of a couple of minutes the American was given the gold.
Ervin, who along with the other swimmers had already left the water, won in 48.33 secs - slicing 0.24 secs off the championship record set by van den Hoogenband yesterday.
The Dutchman was given second in 48.43 for his third silver of the championships having finished second to Ervin in the 50m and to Thorpe in the 200m.
Sweden’s Lars Frolander was third with Thorpe fourth, leaving the 18-year-old’s hopes of seven golds in the championships in tatters.
