Ian Thorpe ponders what might have been March 19, 2006 - 7:21PM
Ian Thorpe is the could have been champion.
The superstar of the pool said from the commentary box before the 100m freestyle that he would have swum under 48.5 seconds if he had been fit for the Commonwealth Games.
He then watched US-based Englishman Simon Burnett pull off an upset win in 48.57s ahead of the misfiring South African duo of Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman.
Thorpe successfully predicted the winning time for the race but playing the role of Nostradamus would not have eased the pain of a missed opportunity.
"I actually think 48.5's going to win it here tonight," he said pre-race on Channel Nine.
"I thought I would have been under that here, previously the South Africans were talking 48 lows."
Olympic silver medallist Schoeman was a warm favourite for the event but has not looked himself this week, as Thorpe observed.
"Clearly the South Africans were the favourites," he said.
"They definitely weren't as strong as they were at the world championships or at the Olympics.
"Burnett had a very good race in the relay and also the 200m freestyle. That was an amazing time." The time wouldn't have been a surprise for the English team with Burnett having won silver in the 200m and only clipping 0.11s off his best time tonight.
But what would have irked Thorpe was Australia's men having failed to win a gold medal with only two nights to go.
The national men's team has never finished an entire Commonwealth Games campaign in the pool without a gold medal.
It issorely missingthe influence of Thorpe and Grant Hackett.
Burnett suggested Australia hadn't dealt with the high expectations of the home crowd as well as it could have.
"I think the Aussies came here with a lot of pressure on themselves," he said.
