Hackett’s Olympic win over Thorpe

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During their impressive swimming careers, it has not been too often that Grant Hackett has been able to go head-to-head with Ian Thorpe and beat him, but he notched a rare “Olympic” victory over his adversary on Wednesday.

But this time, there was not a pool, water or a painted black line involved. Hackett’s Olympic success came because he had been on board the London 2012 bid, while Thorpe had thrown his support behind the New York bid.

“Yeah, I’m thrilled. I backed a winner there, and it’s also nice to get one up on Thorpie, who was backing New York. I won this race,” Hackett said yesterday as the Australian swimming team left Sydney for the world championships in Montreal.

The team will spend two weeks in camp in Florida before flying to Canada for the titles, which begin on July 24.

“I never planned to retire after Beijing (Olympics in 2008) and I certainly plan to go on a couple of years after that,” Hackett said.

“Whether I go all the way to London as an athlete or perhaps play another role, I don’t know.

“It’s a very exciting time and I’m very proud to be associated with the London bid that was successful,” he said.