Ian Thorpe

Ian Thorpe
AM
Young man with short blonde-brown hair wearing a dark open necked shirt and zip-up jacket, not cleanly shaven, smiling broadly. The background is labelled with the word 'Brasserie'.
Thorpe at Doha GOALS Forum 2012
Personal information
Full nameIan James Thorpe
Nicknames
  • "Thorpedo"
  • "Thorpey"
National team Australia
Born (1982-10-13) 13 October 1982 (age 42)
Sydney, Australia
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight104 kg (229 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubSLC Aquadot
Coach
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Australia
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 5 3 1
World Championships (LC) 11 1 1
World Championships (SC) 2 1 0
Pan Pacific Championships 9 3 0
Commonwealth Games 10 1 0
Total 37 9 2
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 4×100 m free
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 4×200 m free
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 400 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney 200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens 4×200 m free
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens 100 m freestyle
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 1998 Perth 400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1998 Perth 4×200 m free
Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 800 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 4×100 m free
Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 4×200 m free
Gold medal – first place 2001 Fukuoka 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2003 Barcelona 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2003 Barcelona 400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2003 Barcelona 4×200 m free
Silver medal – second place 2003 Barcelona 200 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Barcelona 100 m freestyle
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place 1999 Hong Kong 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1999 Hong Kong 4×100 m free
Silver medal – second place 1999 Hong Kong 400 m freestyle
Pan Pacific Championships
Gold medal – first place 1999 Sydney 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1999 Sydney 400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1999 Sydney 4×100 m free
Gold medal – first place 1999 Sydney 4×200 m free
Gold medal – first place 2002 Yokohama 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2002 Yokohama 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2002 Yokohama 400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2002 Yokohama 4×100 m free
Gold medal – first place 2002 Yokohama 4×200 m free
Silver medal – second place 1997 Fukuoka 400 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 1997 Fukuoka 4×200 m free
Silver medal – second place 2002 Yokohama 4×100 m medley
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur 400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4×100 m free
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4×200 m free
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 4×100 m free
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 4×200 m free
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2002 Manchester 100 m backstroke

Ian James Thorpe AM (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired[1] swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the second most won by any Australian after fellow swimmer Emma McKeon. With three gold and two silver medals, Thorpe was the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics, held in his hometown of Sydney.

At the age of 14, Thorpe became the youngest male ever to represent Australia,[2] and his victory in the 400 metre freestyle at the 1998 Perth World Championships made him the youngest-ever individual male World Champion.[3] After that victory, Thorpe dominated the 400 m freestyle, winning the event at every Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific Swimming Championships until his break after the 2004 Olympics in Athens.[4] At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, he became the first person to win six gold medals in one World Championship.[5] Aside from 13 individual long-course world records, Thorpe anchored the Australian relay teams, numbering the victories in the 4 × 100 m and the 4 × 200 m freestyle relays in Sydney among his five relay world records. His wins in the 200 m and 400 m and his bronze in the 100 m freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics made him the only male to have won medals in the 100–200–400 combination.[4] He acquired the nickname "Thorpedo" because of his speed in swimming. Thorpe announced his retirement from competitive swimming in November 2006, citing waning motivation;[6] he made a brief comeback in 2011 and 2012.

In total, Thorpe has won eleven World Championship gold medals; this is the fifth-highest number of gold medals won by any male swimmer.[7] Thorpe was the first person to have been named Swimming World Swimmer of the Year four times,[8][9] and was the Australian Swimmer of the Year from 1999 to 2003. His athletic achievements made him one of Australia's most popular athletes, and he was recognised as the Young Australian of the Year in 2000.[10]

  1. ^ "I'll never swim again, says Ian Thorpe". The Australian. 19 March 2016.
  2. ^ Hunter, p. 75.
  3. ^ Andrews, pp. 434–436, 487.
  4. ^ a b "Ian Thorpe – Career at a glance". ABC News. 21 November 2006. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2006.
  5. ^ Hunter, pp. 274–275.
  6. ^ "Thorpe announces retirement". ABC News. 24 November 2006. Archived from the original on 16 March 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Ian Thorpe". Grand Slam International. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
  8. ^ Hunter, p. viii.
  9. ^ "Swimming World's – World Swimmers of the Year". Swimming World. Archived from the original on 18 November 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Young Australian of the Year 2000". National Australia Day Council. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2022.