Ian Thorpe

Who Is Ian Thorpe?

Ian Thorpe won five Olympic gold medals, the most of any Australian. Ian Thorpe competed in 13 events at a state meet and set under-age NSW records in all of them at the age of 12. He is considered a swimming legend, holding multiple world records.

Thorpe rose to worldwide prominence when, at the age of 15, he won the world 400m freestyle title in Perth in 1998, becoming the world’s youngest world champion.

He began swimming at the age of 14, represented his country, and dominated the sport for ten years.

As a young youngster, his excellent performance positioned him as one of Australia’s rising stars. Thorpe was also named Young Australian of the Year in 2000.

Today, we’ll learn everything there is to know about swimmer Ian Thorpe.

More Facts About Ian Thorpe

Who exactly is Ian Thorpe?

Ian James Thorpe, born on October 13, 1982, is an Australian retired freestyle swimmer who also competed in backstroke and individual medley.

The former swimmer was the most successful athlete at the Summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

Thorpe took home two silver medals and three gold medals.

Furthermore, his 400-meter freestyle triumph at the 1998 Perth World Championships became him the world’s youngest individual male World Champion.

Following that triumph, he dominated the 400 m freestyle, winning it at every Olympic, World, Commonwealth, and Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

Thorpe’s swimming pace earned him the nickname “Thorpedo,” and he retired from competitive swimming in November 2006.

He did, however, make a brief reappearance in 2011 and 2012.

Childhood and Early Life

Thorpe was born in Sydney and raised in the Milperra neighborhood, where he hailed from a sporting family.

His father, Ken, was a great junior cricketer.

In the Sydney district tournament, he represented the Bankstown District Cricket Club.

Unfortunately, paternal pressure affected Ken’s enjoyment of cricket, and he retired at the age of 26.

Margaret, Thorpe’s mother, was an A-grade netball player, but he lacked his family’s ball talents.

His older sister, Christina, was urged to swim in order to strengthen a fractured wrist.

Thorpe, who was five at the time, coincidentally followed her into the water.

Thorpe, on the other hand, was unable to participate in athletics as a child due to chlorine sensitivity.

As a result, he didn’t compete in his first race until he was seven, at a school carnival.

Despite his awkward manner, he won the race due to his massive size advantage.

Beginnings of a Career

Ian began competitive swimming at the age of eight and excelled in the pool despite his lack of coordination in other sports.

When he was 13 years old, he broke ten national age-group records in one competition.

He also became Australia’s youngest national team swimmer the following year.

At the 1998 World Championships, Thorpe, at 15, set a world record in the 400-meter freestyle.

He was the world’s youngest swimming champion.

Ian earned his maiden international debut in his home country at the 1998 World Championships in Perth.

In addition, he ran a split of 1 minute 47.67 seconds, which was only 0.26 seconds slower than Klim’s winning time in the 200 m final.

At the age of seventeen, his contribution to the swimming world was recognized when he was named Swimming World Swimmer of the Year.

Professional Development

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Thorpe won three gold medals (400-meter, 4 × 200-meter, and 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay) and one silver medal.

In addition, in the World Swimming Championships the following year, he set world records in all of them.

In addition, he was a member of the world-record-breaking 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay squad.

Thorpe also won gold in the four 100-meter freestyle and four 100-meter medley events.

He was named the event’s best male participant after his performance helped Australia win the team title.

Thorpe’s freestyle supremacy continued in 2003 when he won three gold medals at the World Championships.

Thorpe took a year off from swimming after his Athens success.

He returned to the pool in 2006 to train for the Commonwealth Games but was forced to withdraw owing to sickness.

Why did Ian Thorpe retire so soon?

At the age of 24, Ian Thorpe retired from competitive swimming.

The five-time Olympic gold medalist revealed that he retired at such a young age because he couldn’t take the enormous pressure.

Thorpe shocked the sports world in 2006 when he announced his premature retirement.

However, he later said that he regretted not resigning sooner.

Ian went on to say that if he hadn’t been subjected to “pressures,” he feels he could have competed in “another two Olympics” at the time.

He battled the mental issues that came with being trapped between his sporting dreams and a longing for a normal life away from the grind of training and the glare of the spotlight.

Career After Swimming

Thorpe used hidden-camera material to convey a victim’s perspective of bullying in a two-part ABC Television program called Bullied.

It premiered on March 14, 2017.

In the run-up to the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, he lobbied for a “yes” vote.

Furthermore, he encouraged people to vote at City2Surf.

Thorpe and his companion afterward appeared in a campaign ad.

He said he could update his voter registration information faster than his companion could swim 100 meters.

Sexuality, Ian Thorpe

Thorpe had denied his homosexuality for years before coming out as gay in a July 2014 televised interview with British talk show presenter Michael Parkinson.

“I’m at ease identifying as a gay man,” he says.

And I don’t want anyone to go through what I did.

You may mature, be happy in your own skin, and be gay.”

“I’m announcing my homosexuality to the world,” he continued, “and I hope this makes it easier for others today, and it feels great to get it out even if you’ve been holding it in for years.”

In 2016, he began dating model Ryan Channing.

Thorpe, on the other hand, indicated in December 2017 that he had no intention of marrying his boyfriend “anytime soon,” preferring to start his own family.

Thorpe and Channing divorced in June 2019.

Thorpe’s sexual orientation, as well as some of the challenges he faced as a result of his homosexuality, were covered in a question-and-answer format interview

. It will be released by the International Olympic Committee in September 2020.

Autobiography

Thorpe’s autobiography, This is Me, was released shortly after the London Olympics.

The book drew a lot of attention, owing especially to a chapter on depression.

Furthermore, he addressed the LGBT accusations in his book.

He regarded them as yet another unwarranted strain that made him feel alienated, not because of his sexual orientation, but because his honest denials were perceived as horrible lies.

Michael Jordan and other well-known athletes appreciated Thorpe’s candor on Twitter and in interviews, highlighting the severity of the illness.

Thorpe has been keen to emphasize that media attention did not trigger his depression.

However, he has been open in saying that the negative coverage in the Australian media did not help him.

Furthermore, he has been dealing with agony for years, even (and perhaps especially) during his zenith of prominence in the early 2000s.

Philanthropy

Thorpe rose to prominence as a philanthropist after creating Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth in 2000.

The group provides funds for childhood illness research and helps fund a school in Beijing for orphaned and disadvantaged children.

It also works with The Fred Hollows Foundation to improve the health and living conditions of Australia’s indigenous communities.

Suffer from Depression

Thorpe has always been open about his battle with depression, which began when he was a child.

THORPE DAZED AT HIS PARENTS’ PANANIA HOUSE IN 2014, WAS CONFIRMED TO BE TAKEN TO A REHABILITATION CLINIC BY NEIGHBORS.

Thorpe was taken to Bankstown Hospital and then to a rehabilitation facility.

Ian confessed in his 2012 autobiography This is Me that he considered suicide and consumed “huge amounts” of alcohol to cope with “crippling sadness.”

For numerous years, he believed doctors were lying to him when they stated it was controllable.

The swimmer told the Daily Mail Australia that he has never been afraid to seek help.

Ian Thorpe: Hobbies

Thorpe is well-known for his fashion interests, as an Armani ambassador and owner of a premium jewelry and underwear company.

Thorpe’s interest in fashion and culture led to numerous trips to New York City. Furthermore, he calls the city his “second home,” where he frequently visits Armani engagements.

Furthermore, because of the city’s status as a global fashion powerhouse.

Thorpe’s hobbies have also led him to a career in television.

In 2002, he appeared on the reality television show Undercover Angels, which was based on the Charlie’s Angels series.

Thorpe has also appeared as an extra on the American sitcom Friends.

Popularity

Thorpe is well-known in Asia, particularly in Japan.

After selecting him as the swimmer most likely to succeed at the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, TV Asahi chose him as the event’s marketing icon in 2000.

Thorpe came to Japan in preparation for the event to promote Asahi in a series of television broadcasts.

When he returned for the competition, he was greeted at the airport by a 25-meter-long line of young people, with hundreds camped outside the Australian team’s hotel.

According to reports, more than 80% of the Japanese populace watched his race on television.

Thorpe opted to become an ambassador for the Australian Tourism Commission in Japan in 2002, following a drop in tourism following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The high-profile campaign included a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Furthermore, as a result of the marketing campaign, Thorpe was credited with increasing Japanese tourism to Australia.

In 2005, Yakult released a ‘Thorpedo’ energy drink in Japan, with an image of a swimmer on the bottle.

What happened to Ian Thorpe?

Thorpe has started a new job as a coach to Australia’s future Olympians and Olympic aspirants.

Thorpe states in an article by Neil Cross:

“I’ve always wanted to get more involved in sports and a supporter of our athletes because they’re a lovely set of young people when you spend time with them and get to know them.”

Olympic swimmers will be coached by Ian Thorpe ahead of the Rio Games.

Ian Thorpe’s Salary

Thorpe’s net worth is believed to be $2 million.

During his career, he was one of Australia’s most well-known and popular athletes.

The majority of Thorpe’s fortune stems from his professional swimming career.

Despite competing in a sport where most foreign athletes earn less than the minimum wage, Thorpe has consistently ranked as the most sought-after Australian athlete for sponsorship deals.

Furthermore, he outperforms football players who battle on a weekly basis in far larger arenas.

Legacy of Ian Thorpe

Thorpe’s success has been attributed to his hard ethic, mental tenacity, powerful kick, acceleration ability, and swimming-specific physiology.

Because of this, former Australian head coach Don Talbot labeled him “the best swimmer the world has ever seen.

” Despite the fact that Swimming World lauded Thorpe’s technique as “fantastic” and “exceptional.”

Talbot was of the opinion that Thorpe relied too heavily on his kick at the expense of his arms.

Ian also cited weaknesses in his ability to manage his workload and his day-to-day recovery between races during a meet.

Following Thorpe’s retirement, Bob Bowman, the head coach of the United States men’s swimming team and Michael Phelps’ mentor, commented on him.

He was termed “the finest relay swimmer I have ever seen” and “the best middle-distance swimmer of all time” by Bowman, who also lauded Thorpe’s ability to elevate the sport’s visibility and appeal, saying that Phelps’ public character was fashioned after Thorpe’s.

“Australians will still marvel at Ian Thorpe’s achievements in 50 years,” remarked Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates.

According to Dawn Fraser, Thorpe was the “greatest [freestyle] swimmer in the world,” and one of just two athletes to win the same Olympic event three times.

Drug Charges Against Ian Thorpe

Ian Thorpe, an Australian freestyle swimmer, and five-time Olympic gold medalist were chastised in the 2000s for allegedly abusing performance-enhancing drugs and steroid drug doping to fuel his sporting feats.

Despite numerous investigations, there has never been any substantiation supporting these claims.

Thorpe has strongly denied the allegations.

Furthermore, he has been a prominent critic of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) and International Swimming Federation’s (FINA) drug rules, which he says are excessively lax and poorly implemented.

Allegations from Germany

During the Summer Olympics in 2000, German head coach Manfred Theismann leveled accusations against him.

Thorpe, according to Theismann, was using steroids.

On their tour in Berlin, Ian and American backstroke World Champion Lenny Krayzelburg were tested for drugs.

In the absence of the necessary containers, testing officials asked the swimmers whether they could leave their samples unopened in a fridge overnight.

It did, however, contravene drug testing security regulations, which Australian and US officials refused to accept.

More drug-related allegations appeared later in the year.

There was one from Chris-Carol Bremer, the German skipper.

Thorpe’s “hands and feet are unnaturally huge,” he claimed, due to his use of human growth hormone.

L’Equipe Complaints

Thorpe tested positive for “abnormal quantities” of two banned substances in May 2006, according to L’Équipe, a French daily sports journal.

Thorpe’s testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels were examined (LH).

Both are naturally present in the body, according to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).

Campaign Against Drugs

Thorpe is a key player in the anti-drug movement, both in and out of sports.

He has requested blood testing and has chastised FINA for allegedly poor drug-testing measures.

“Anyone who thinks they’re swimming in a clean Olympic Games is dumb,” he remarked.

Despite the adulation of swimmers and coaches, FINA condemned him, accusing him of bringing the sport into disrepute.

Thorpe was chosen by the United Nations to lead an anti-recreational drug campaign in Japan as well as promotional work for UNICEF during UN Children’s Week.

Achievements and Awards

Ian has won eleven World Championship gold medals in total, ranking seventh among male swimmers.

Thorpe is also the first individual to have been crowned Swimming World Swimmer of the Year four times.

He was also the Australian Swimmer of the Year from 1999 to 2003.

Thorpe was elected Young Australian of the Year in 2000 for his athletic accomplishments, making him one of Australia’s most famous athletes.

He received an Order of Australia (OAM) in 2000 for his service to sport as a gold medalist in the Sydney Olympic Games.

He was awarded the Human Rights Medal in 2012 for his volunteer work with indigenous children.

Furthermore, Macquarie University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters in 2014 for his great achievements in athletics, philanthropy, and Indigenous rights.

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Profile on Social Media

Thorpe is active on several social media networks.

He frequently updates his social media with photographs and information about his life.

149k Facebook followers

Twitter has 95,2k followers.

73.3k followers on Instagram