Flying Dutchman to take on Popov for 100m crown

Sydney: Having sunk Australia's "Thorpedo", Flying Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband set his sights on Tuesday on denying Russian Alexander Popov an historic third Olympic gold in the 100 metres freestyle.

Van den Hoogenband, who left Australian favourite Ian Thorpe in his wake in Monday's 200 metres freestyle final, loosened up in Tuesday's morning session with a swift 48.64 in the 100 to lead qualifiers for the evening's semi-finals.

The clash between two of Europe's top swimmers is set for Wednesday in Sydney's Homebush Bay pool where eight world records have already tumbled in one of the most dazzling displays of Olympic swimming in decades.

On Tuesday night, meanwhile, Thorpe goes for his third Olympic gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay team who are hot favourites to win.

Popov is aiming to become the first male swimmer to win the same event at three Olympics, first in the 100 metres freestyle and then in the 50 at the end of the week.

Van den Hoogenband toppled Popov as European champion in both the 50 and 100 freestyle in Istanbul in 1999.

Popov bounced back this year, breaking the 10-year-old 50 metres freestyle world record of American Tom Jager and reclaiming his European titles from Van den Hoogenband in Helsinki in July.

American iron grip

Popov will also have to be on his guard for Michael Klim, who on Saturday snatched the 100 freestyle world record which the Russian had held for more than six years.

Klim clocked 48.18 seconds and sliced 0.03 seconds off his training partner's world record when he raced as lead-off swimmer in the Australian 4x100 freestyle relay squad which broke the United States' iron grip on the event and also broke the world record.

The highlights of Tuesday night's action in the pool feature Australian swimmers as they aim to return to the top of the podium.

Susan O'Neill contests the women's 200 metres freestyle final and Thorpe, Klim, Grant Hackett and Daniel Kowalski enter the 4x200 freestyle.

O'Neill was fastest in both heats and semi-finals on Monday but faces a stern challenge from defending champion Claudia Poll of Costa Rica, Camelia Potec of Romania and Martina Moravcova of Slovakia.

Franziska van Almsick, silver medallist in 1992 and 1996, will not be there. The German failed to get beyond the semi-finals this time, now apparently on the down slope after a brilliant career.

Ukraine's Yana Klochkova, winner of Saturday's women's 400 metres individual medley title, is favourite for a second gold in the 200 individual medley and American Tom Malchow, silver medallist in Atlanta, looks destined for gold in the men's 200 metres butterfly final.

Millionaires forsake luxury hotels

Although most eyes were on the pool spectators flocked to the equestrian and gymnastic events where medals were up for grabs, and the tennis competition began.

Tennis millionaires Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles their luxury hotels for the more Spartan Olympic athletes' village.

The pair, who have 12 Grand Slam titles between them, are used to travelling in style to tournaments around the world.

But US chef de mission Sandy Baldwin said of the village, "There is such a unique atmosphere here and I think Lindsay and Monica were keen to experience it."

"They were meant to stay in something more up-scale but hotels do not have the flavour there is here," she said.

Someone who checked out of the village without leaving a forwarding address was Shamed Romanian weightlifter Traian Ciharean.

He went missing after being kicked out of the Olympics for failing a drugs test. Team spokesman Alex Epuran said Ciharean had refused to return home on a flight booked by his country's Olympic committee and left on Monday night.

"We know nothing about him...He just returned his accreditation pass to us and left the village. We bought him a ticket but he refused to use it so last night we cancelled the reservation," Epuran told Reuters.

Ten athletes have been barred from the Games for doping and China dropped 27 members of its Olympic squad before coming to Sydney.

Ukrainian shot putter Aleksandr Bagach learns on Tuesday whether he will miss the Games after a third doping offence.

Bagach, bronze medallist in 1996 in Atlanta, tested positive for steroids this year but was cleared by the Ukrainian federation.

Reuters

(c) Reuters Limited.