Ian Thorpe
Ian Thorpe
Ian James Thorpe, OAMis an Australian swimmer who specialises in freestyle, but also competes in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian, and with three gold and two silver medals, was the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, he became the first person to win six gold medals in one World Championship. In total, Thorpe has won eleven World Championship golds,...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionSwimmer
Date of Birth13 October 1982
CitySydney, Australia
CountryAustralia
I am not going to allow myself not to perform well just because I don't feel well. I am bulletproof to the extent that a lot of things can be thrown at me, but it's about how much I am prepared to let them affect me
I swam the race like I trained to swim it. It is not mathematical. I just let my body do it. It is a lot easier if you let your body do what it is trained for.
Remember to do the things you enjoy away from swimming, regularly.
This Is Me”: ”For the record, I am not gay and all my sexual experiences have been straight. I'm attracted to women, I love children and aspire to have a family one day … I know what it's like to grow up and be told what your sexuality is, then realising that it's not the full reality. I was accused of being gay before I knew who I was.
This is why relays are so important, because you can find more in yourself for someone else, than what you can ever find for yourself.
I've missed out on a huge goal but the desire is still there.
I've enjoyed training again, I've enjoyed pushing myself in the pool and I'll keep on swimming until I feel I cannot get any more out of myself.
Part of me didn't know if Australia wanted its champion to be gay.
People ask me 'what was going through your mind in the race?' and I don't know. I try and ...let my body do what it knows
Sometimes we question things that we have done in our lives but how many times do we question what we haven't done in someone else's.
I thought I could, and thought I would, swim a lot quicker - much quicker.
I'll go for broke. Swim faster. It's not going to be easy - this whole thing was never going to be easy.
I'm disappointed that I really haven't been able to race in a way that is reflective of the amount of work that I have done and how I have trained. But I don't regret giving this a go.