Thorpe, Ian

Ian Thorpe, (born October 13, 1982, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), Australian athlete, who was the most successful swimmer in that country’s history, accumulating five Olympic gold medals and 11 world championship titles between 1998 and 2004.

Thorpe began swimming competitively at age eight, and, although he had been uncoordinated in other sports, he excelled in the pool. At age 13 he broke 10 national age-group records in one meet, and the following year he became the youngest swimmer to make Australia’s national team. At the 1998 world championships, Thorpe, then age 15, became the youngest world swimming champion with his world-record victory in the 400-metre freestyle. Aided by his height (6 feet 4 inches [2 metres]) and extraordinarily large feet, which some compared to flippers, Thorpe soon became known as the “Thorpedo.”

Already well known in Australia, Thorpe attracted widespread attention during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he won three gold medals (400-metre freestyle, 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay, 4 × 100-metre freestyle relay) and one silver medal (200-metre freestyle). The following year, at the world swimming championships, he won six gold medals and set world records in the 200-metre freestyle, the 400-metre freestyle, and the 800-metre freestyle. He was also a member of the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay team, which set a world record. Thorpe’s other gold medals were in the 4 × 100-metre freestyle relay and the 4 × 100-metre medley relay. His performance helped Australia win the team title at the meet, and Thorpe was named best male performer. Thorpe continued his dominance of the freestyle as he won three gold medals at the 2003 world championships (200-metre freestyle, 400-metre freestyle, and 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay). At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Thorpe added gold medals in the 200-metre and 400-metre freestyle events as well as a silver in the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay and a bronze in the 100-metre freestyle.

After his triumph in Athens, Thorpe spent a year away from swimming. He returned to the pool to prepare for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but he was forced to withdraw from that event because of illness. In November 2006 Thorpe shocked the swimming world by abruptly retiring from the sport at age 24. In February 2011 he announced that he would return to international swimming in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, but he failed to qualify for the Australian Olympic team.