Grant Hackett has claimed gold in the men's 800m freestyle title at the world swimming championships in Barcelona.

Hackett, runner-up last time, claims the title which Australian team-mate Ian Thorpe was not defending this year.

He timed 7min 43.82sec to come in ahead of Larsen Jensen of the United States in 7:48.09 with the bronze going to Ihor Chervynskyi of the Ukraine in 7:53.15.

It was the second gold in Barcelona for 23-year-old Hackett who won the 4x200m freestyle title, and also took silver in the 200m and 400m freestyle behind Thorpe.

It is a sixth world gold for Hackett who will be bidding to win a third consecutive 1500m title on Sunday.

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