Alexander Popov denied that he was retiring, refuting a French newspaper report that the four-time Olympic champion was calling it quits, a Russian news agency said.

L'Equipe reported on Thursday that Popov, 33, made the decision after consulting with his coach and family upon returning home from the Athens Olympics in August, which he left without a medal.

Popov told the ITAR-Tass news agency that L'Equipe was "running ahead of a steam engine".

"Not only had I not made any official statement, I didn't even have it in my thoughts," he said.

Popov won six world championships in his career, spanning more than 12 years.

He still holds a 50m freestyle world record of 21.64 seconds set in 2000 in Moscow.

After winning the 50m freestyle at the European Championships in Madrid in May, Popov had hinted that the 2004 Games might be his finale.

In April, Popov made an unsuccessful bid to become president of the Russian swimming federation.

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