Phelps' coach welcomes Thorpe back to the pool deck

New York: The coach of Michael Phelps has welcomed Ian Thorpe's announcement that he will return to competitive swimming, saying he looks forward to seeing him at the 2012 London Olympics for what could be the ultimate race.

Although Phelps is unrivalled as the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time, winning a staggering 14 gold medals, Thorpe famously beat both the American and Pieter van den Hoogenband to win the 200 metres freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympics in a final perhaps prematurely dubbed the "race of the century."

Phelps went on to win the 200m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he collected an unprecedented eight gold medals at a single Games, but never got the chance to race Thorpe again because the Australian retired in 2006, aged 24.

With Thorpe announcing that he plans to make a comeback for the London Olympics, Phelps could finally get his chance to go head to head with Thorpe again.

And adding even more spice to a race that would undoubtedly be one of the most eagerly-anticipated events in London, is the addition of Germany's Paul Biedermann, the reigning 200m world champion and world record holder.

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