Christian.

Welcome friends to the Christian O'Connell Show podcast.

We are counting down.

End of next week, the Games in Paris.

Nine shows to go to the Games in Paris, and over the next nine shows, we have our golden moments.

We're hearing from Australian gold medalists and are taking us back to their golden moments.

Today we go back to Sydney and 2000.

It's the 1500 metres freestyle Grant Hackett.

Do you remember this taking on Australian National Treasure, Kieran Perkins.

Let's hear from Grant now in his golden moment.

Christian O'Connell's Golden Moments, counting down to the Games in Paris. Grant Hackett at the 2000 Sydney Olympics

winning gold in the 1500 metre freestyle.

Going into those Olympics, I guess I was the red-hot favourite,

but going up against a national icon in Kiran Perkins,

you get one chance every four years, you get one day. If you're off,

there's eight years in between opportunities. The day of the finals. I remember just diving

into that race and wanting to establish a lead, which I did. It wasn't easy. I had to really work

for it. But then I was just trying to push Kieran as back as best I

could. So led that race from start and finish. I remember touching that wall, looking up,

and I looked at the diving board scoreboard, and I looked across and I saw, I think it was

14 minutes, 48 at the time, and then I saw the number one next to my name.

Kieran Perkins, I have an interesting relationship with him.

...