FACTBOX: Grant Hackett factbox
(Reuters) - Factbox on Australian swimmer Grant Hackett who announced his retirement Monday.
Age: 28 (date of birth: May 9, 1980)
Place of birth: Gold Coast, Australia
Career achievements:
- Won seven Olympic medals (three gold, three silver, one bronze)
- Won 18 world championship medals (10 gold, six silver, two bronze)
- Currently holds world records for 800 and 1500 meters freestyle
Hackett confirmed his status as the new king of long distance swimming when he won the 1500 at the 1998 world championships in Perth.
He remained unbeaten over the distance for more than a decade, winning four consecutive world titles at Perth, Fukuoka (2001), Barcelona (2003) and Montreal (2005).
He also won the 1500 at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and again at Athens four years later despite swimming with a partially collapsed lung.
Hackett briefly held the world record for 200 and is the second fastest man over 400 freestyle but often had to second for settle behind his team mate Ian Thorpe.
Hackett broke Kieren Perkins' 1500 world record at the 2001 world championships and Thorpe's 800 world record at Montreal, where he was named as the outstanding male swimmer after winning the 400, 800 and 1500 treble.
The wear and tear of training finally started taking its toll on Hackett and he underwent shoulder surgery in late 2005, then started having back problems in 2006.
An unfit Hackett suffered his first defeat in a decade at the 2007 world championships in Melbourne but he rediscovered his motivation for one last shot at Beijing.
He recorded the second fastest time in history to qualify fastest from the heats but could only manage second place in the final behind Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli.
(Reporting by Julian Linden. Editing by Justin Palmer)
