Now I may be jumping the gun just a little, but i opened this thread because the first bit of interesting news AFAIC has emerged
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - World record-holder Ian Thorpe likely lost a chance to defend his 400-meter freestyle title in the Athens Olympics after being disqualified in the Australian trials.
Thorpe fell off the starting blocks Saturday on the first day of the eight-day Australian trials. He said he heard a noise, disrupting his concentration.
But Thorpe's appeal to Australian Swimming officials was later dismissed. Under Australia's strict qualification policy, only the two fastest swimmers in each race final qualify for the Olympics.
There was no immediate comment from the 21-year-old Thorpe on whether he might appeal the case to a higher jurisdiction.
Thorpe appeared to overbalance on the blocks and fell into the water before the official start of his heat. He then got out of the pool and returned to the blocks with the rest of the competitors.
But meet referee John Keppie walked over to Thorpe's No. 4 block and disqualified him, surprising the small crowd at the center. Thorpe appeared stunned as he walked off the pool deck.
Thorpe's manager, Dave Flaskas, said the Olympic, world and Commonwealth champion heard a noise before he fell into the water.
Thorpe has dominated world 400-meter freestyle swimming since becoming the youngest male world champion at the age of 15.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now the issue that's got everyone in Australia talking at the moment is the fact that a swimmer named Craig Stevens, who qualified for the 400m event, can allow the Thorpedo to compete in the event if Stevens steps aside (forfeits his entry in that event).
It was on the radio this morning, and people were calling up, some saying that Stevens should step aside and let Thorpe swim, since we want to send our best squad.
My opinion? Utter rubbish. Sure, Thorpe has a much better chance of winning gold than Craig Stevens, but rules are rules, and Stevens has trained as hard as anyone else, and he qualified fair and square. There's no way he should feel any obligation to step aside and let Thorpe compete. Sure, Thorpe is undoubtedly the better swimmer, but i'll be totally pissed off if Stevens offers to step aside and Thorpe accepts the offer. Hopefully he'll be more gracious than that.
Truth be told, there's a fair chance I'll be cheering for Pieter van den Hoogenband now
