London - AFP
Australia\'s James Magnussen admits he was transfixed by the United States\' come-from-behind 4x100m relay win at the last Olympics -- and he\'s determined not to let it happen again in London. The sprinter describes the race, when Jason Lezak overhauled leaders France in the final leg, as one of his favourite Olympic moments. But he said Australia were confident of adding the Olympic title to their world crown. \"I love that race -- one of my favourite Olympic moments,\" he said. \"That anchor leg by Jason Lezak was something I could only ever dream to emulate. It was such an exciting moment in Olympic sport. It\'s definitely a moment I will remember forever and something that if we as a team could emulate, then that would be amazing. \"But I feel like this team is in a position to forge their own path. But obviously we are aware of the Americans\' ability to come from behind and cause an upset like that.\" Magnussen led Australia to an upset victory over the United States at last year\'s world championships, halting the Americans\' run of three world titles and the Olympic win in Beijing. And the 21-year-old, who also won the individual 100m freestyle at his first world championships, said a growing bond between Australia\'s team could maintain their edge in London. \"There are a couple of nicknames going around, obviously people call James Roberts \'The Rocket\', young Cameron McEvoy has been nicknamed this trip \'Dr. Pepper\' -- long story,\" he said. \"But we\'ve bonded really well this week. I feel like as a group we\'re tighter than we have been over the past years and it\'s going to be a really positive experience to be there with what I think has become a bunch of mates and show the rest of the world what we can do. \"I think we\'ve gelled as well as any other team that I\'ve seen over the past years and I think that will definitely help us be successful and stay relaxed on the day.\" Australia famously beat the United States at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and celebrated by playing air guitar after Gary Hall Jnr had pledged to \"smash them like guitars.\" Magnussen said the London relay, held on the first day in the pool on Saturday, was the ideal preparation for the individual 100m next week, where he is expected to challenge Brazilian rival Cesar Cielo\'s world record. He said he had worked hard on technical areas such as starts and turns since the world championships in Shanghai, which he called \"by no means the perfect race\". But Magnussen added his training also focused on building the mental strength to keep him at his best in the high-pressure atmosphere of the Olympics. \"I think something my coach and I have trained as much as my physical abilities is my mental abilities to cope with these situations,\" he said. \"My main goal for this week throughout the swimming, regardless of the results, is to stay positive and enjoy the week. I feel whenever I have a positive mindset things seem to fall into place.\" Magnussen shot to fame at the Shanghai world championships, when he became the first Australian man to win the 100m since the competition was established in 1973. He is now bidding to break a 44-year Olympic drought for Australia\'s men in the 100m freestyle since Michael Wenden\'s 1968 victory in Mexico.