Ian Thorpe has written off American superfish Michael Phelps' chances of eclipsing Mark Spitz's record haul of seven gold medals at a single Olympics.

Phelps will be chasing Spitz's brilliant return from the 1972 Munich Games at this year's Beijing Olympics after winning seven gold medals at last year's world championships.

But Thorpe, who had his 200m freestyle world record erased by Phelps last year, didn't believe the American could top Spitz.

"I wish him all the very best. I don't think he will do it, but I'd love to see it," Thorpe told reporters in Beijing.

"There's a thing called competition. It won't just be one athlete that will be competing, and in a lot of events he has a lot of strong competition."

Phelps, 22, who will choose an event programme in Beijing that will give him every chance to beat Spitz's record, won six golds in Athens in 2004.

Thorpe said he was still content in retirement and had no desire to return to the pool competitively.

"I have had inklings of getting back in and swimming, not competitively, but they last for like five seconds, and then I'm over it again," he said.

"For those brief five seconds it's a wonderful thought, but it's not going to happen until I can think about it for at least five minutes."

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