Thorpe Sets World Mark, Thompson Wins 6th Gold

S Y D N E Y, Australia, Sept. 16 -- Race after race, world records fellwith abandon in the pool. It started and ended with “TheThorpedo.” In between came America’s Jenny Thompson.

Thompson added to her Olympic legacy with a record-tying sixthcareer gold medal, anchoring the U.S. women’s 400-meter freestylerelay tonight, while Australian star Ian Thorpe put his markon the games by easily winning the 400 freestyle.

In all, the veteran and the teen-age rookie contributed to thefive world marks set on an exhilarating opening night of swimming.

Five records, four races.

Sixth Gold for Thompson

Thompson cruised to the wall, clocking 3 minutes, 36.61 secondsto better the old mark of 3:37.91 by China in 1994. She ripped offher cap and goggles and received pats on the head from teammatesAmy Van Dyken, Dara Torres and Courtney Shealy.

“I don’t think about medal counts,” Thompson said. “It’s an honor, but I’m really not focused on that at this point.”