Filippo Magnini after winning the 100m freestyle on Thursday. (AFP)

Montreal: Michael Phelps captured his third gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships on Thursday to join Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett as the only swimmers to win six individual world titles.

The American added another page to his glowing resume when he fought off a sustained challenge from Hungarian Laszlo Cseh to retain the 200 metres individual medley title he won in Barcelona two years ago, just an hour after he bombed out in the 100m freestyle final won by Italian Filippo Magnini.

Magnini pulled off a major upset to take the gold in a time of 48.12 seconds, making him the second fastest man in history behind world record holder Pieter van den Hoogenband.

Just a few minutes later, Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland broke her own world record to win the women’s 200m butterfly final after a thrilling duel with Australia’s Jessicah Schipper that saw both women go under the old mark.

Australia did strike one gold when Giaan Rooney won the women’s 50m backstroke final but the United States kept their lead on the medals table through Phelps and the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.

Phelps had needed to win Thursday’s sprint to keep alive his dream of breaking Thorpe’s record of six golds at a single meet but could only manage seventh place as Magnini pinched the title. (Reuters)