World Record Holder in 400m Freestyle Misses Qualification for Athens Olympics

Ian Thorpe from Australia, Olympic champion and world record holder, has been disqualified from competing in the 400m freestyle event in the preliminary rounds for qualification to the Olympics taking place in Sydney, Australia. This 21-year-old champion will thus miss the opportunity to participate in this event at the Summer Olympics next August in Athens, Greece. Ian Thorpe apparently lost his balance on Saturday before the start of the preliminary 400m freestyle competition and fell into the water from the starting block. He returned to the block and participated in the competition, but officials disqualified him from continuing. The referee and Australian swimming officials rejected the appeal from Ian Thorpe's swimming club. Australia has a strict policy in swimming that allows only the two fastest swimmers to qualify for the Olympics from each preliminary event. Ian Thorpe became the youngest male world champion in 400m freestyle at the age of 15 in 1998. He set his first world record in this event the following year and has broken the world record four times since then. Ian Thorpe's disqualification only affects his participation in the 400m freestyle Olympic event, but this swimmer will compete in the preliminary rounds of the 200m freestyle on Monday. He is also the world record holder in that event.