Ian Thorpe

Ian on the victory dais at the 2001 World Champs in Fukuoka, Japan

Ian carried the flag at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney

Close up and personal

Ian with one of his five gold medals from the 2002 Pan Pacs in Yokohama, Japan

On the victory podium at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester

Grant and Ian
Manchester 2006

Ian and Grant: 2002
Pan Pacs in Yokohama

Ian won the Telstra Australian Swimmer of the Year Award for five consecutive years

Ian with his booty from the 2001 World Champs in Fukuoka

That winning smile

Thorpe falls into the pool and is disqualified from the 400m qualifying race for 2004 Athens.

2004 Athens Olympics

Omega ambassador

Olympic dream

The 2006-2007 drug saga took a heavy toll on Ian

You'd think he was trying to make the synchronized swimming team !

Perhaps he really is trying to make the  team!

A very proud Aussie

"The only drug I take is the hard work I put into my training. I know that I've never taken anything and I never will.  I don't understand the concept of taking drugs in any form."

  Ian Thorpe   

Live your dreams!

Of the many great moments in Ian Thorpe's swimming career, there are quite a few standout performances that deserve special mention. Here are SOME of Thorpe's magic moments.

The Dutchman took an early lead and was never seriously threatened until Thorpe began his surge with about 50 metres to go. The final lap was frenetic as Thorpe took the lead about thirty metres from the finish. The pair went stoke for stoke until Thorpe finally touched first, setting a new Olympic record of 1 minute 44.71 seconds. Van den Hoogenband was second in 1:45.23 with Phelps taking the bronze medal in 1:45.32.

Thorpe has always maintained that his favourite Olympic moment was the 4 x 100m freestyle relay at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The United States team had never been beaten in this event, having won every gold medal since the first 4x100m relay held in Tokyo, way back in 1964.

In the lead up to the 2000 final, there had been considerable media coverage of the event. The legendary US swimmer, Gary Hall Jr. had been some-what vilified in the media because of his pre-race comment that the Americans would smash the Aussies "like guitars." 

The 4 x 100m team: Chris Fydler, Ian Thorpe, Ashley Callus and Michael Klim

In the final, the Australian team consisted of Michael Klim, Chris Fydler, Ashley Callus and Ian Thorpe who would swim the final leg in direct opposition to Gary Hall Jr.  Klim swam a fantastic opening leg, setting a new world record for the 100m and providing the Aussies with an arm-length lead. Both Fydler and Callus swam brilliantly and maintained that slender lead for Australia.

As Callus touched the wall, Thorpe timed his dive perfectly and by the time he surfaced he had stretched the lead to a full body length. But Hall used his superior early speed to narrow the gap very quickly. By the time they turned, Hall was about a half body length in front and all seemed lost for the Aussies. But nobody told Thorpe that!

As the two powered down the final 50 metres,  the crowd of over 17000 went ballistic as Thorpe's trademark final burst began to kick in. Gradually he climbed over the top of Hall and touched first to claim victory by the slender margin of 0.17 seconds. The Australians had ended the American dominance of this event, setting a new world record in the process.

The reaction from the crowd, combined with the euphoria of the moment sparked a remarkable and surprising reaction from Thorpe. As a general rule, Thorpe's victory celebration was never more animated than a few slow fist pumps. However, on this occasion, he quickly climbed out of the pool and began hugging his team-mates and shouting ecstatically. Then to the delight of the largely pro Australian crowd, Thorpe and the rest of the Aussie quartet began strumming air guitars!  But, somehow I don't think Gary Hall Jr. appreciated the symbolism!

Those air guitars could be heard all over the world!

Another very significant swim in Ian Thorpe's career was the 400m freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Although the race itself was far from Thorpe's best performance over the 400m journey, it was the events leading up to the final that made this race a particularly memorable performance by Thorpe.

The drama began in March 2004 at the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials in Sydney. In the heats of the 400m, Thorpe was disqualified from the event after over-balancing and falling into the pool. This resulted in one of the most controversial debates in Australian sporting history. It seemed everyone in Australia had an opinion on the matter, even the Prime Minister waded into the debate. In the end, the second qualifier, Craig Stevens, withdrew from the event providing an opportunity for Thorpe to compete in his strongest event. After considerable deliberation, Thorpe accepted the offered place in the 400m race.

At the Olympic trials in Sydney, Ian overbalances in the heats of the 400m freestyle and is disqualified from the race.	Ian is distraught after the race. The prospect of missing a start in his pet 400m event in Athens is just too much to bear.

In the final of that race in Athens, Thorpe did not begin well. The race was swum at an irregular pace throughout. After several lead changes, Thorpe hit the front, and by the 350m mark, he had established a body length lead. However, Grant Hackett began to close on Thorpe as they turned to swim the final lap. In an exciting finish, Thorpe just managed to hold of the Hackett challenge to win by only 0.26 seconds in a time of 3min 43.10sec. This was three seconds outside Thorpe's world record!

Thorpe appeared to be quite emotional after the race.  Later, he admitted that all the debate and the controversy surrounding his qualification had taken quite a toll on him.

Ian Thorpe struggles  with his emotions after winning the 400m freestyle final at the 2004 Athens Olympics.	Ian on the victory dais after receiving his gold medal for the 400m freestyle final.

There are many other great moments in Thorpe's swimming career. Some experts have argued that Thorpe's first individual Olympic gold medal in the 400m freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Olympics would feature prominently on the list. Then there was the fantastic 400m freestyle at the Pan Pacific Championships in Sydney, when Thorpe broke Kieran Perkins world record of 3:43.80 by almost two seconds. A record that had stood for almost five years!

But perhaps Thorpe's finest performance came in 2000 at a European World Cup meet in Berlin. Once again, the circumstances leading up to the race added to the drama, and helped to set this particular race apart from many others.

"The only drug I take is the hard work I put into my training."

Thorpe had viewed the European short course circuit as a perfect lead up to the Sydney Olympics, and an excellent opportunity to hone his race craft. However, not long after he arrived in Europe the German head coach, Manfred Thiesmann virtually accused Thorpe of taking steroids. Although the Australian delegation rallied behind Thorpe and strongly denied the accusations, it was certainly not the last time that aspersions of this nature would be levelled against the young Australian. But there was still more drama to follow.

During the German leg of the European tour in Berlin, Thorpe and American back stroker Lenny Krayzelburg were drug tested. The officials conducting the test were unable to locate the required containers so they asked both swimmers for permission to leave their unsealed samples in a fridge overnight. Because this was in contravention of the security protocol for such tests, the Australian and American officials refused permission for this to happen. What followed was a dramatic stand-off that was only resolved when German police were called in to take responsibility for the samples.

Happy Snaps
Ian and Christina at her wedding	2004: Olympic welcome home parade

Thorpe was certainly fired up after the incident. In the 200m short course event that followed the confrontation, he swam one of the best races of his career. Not only did he blow the opposition out of the water but he took an amazing 1.44 seconds off the existing World Short Course record.

Later that same year, the German swim-team captain, Chris-Carol Bremer also came out and made accusations against Thorpe. He claimed that Thorpe's exceptionally large hands and feet were the result of an illegal use of human growth hormone (hGH). 

You can't help wondering why certain individuals, from one particular country, continued to engage in such tactics. But maybe, the German swim team of 2000 were just slow learners!!!
 

The many faces of Ian Thorpe

"His retirement is an enormous loss to Australian swimming.  His achievements will be remembered by millions of Australians. There have been so many great performances that they do all tend to merge into a recollection of a remarkable athlete, a great swimmer and a good bloke." Australian Prime Minister, John Howard

"He's our greatest Olympian and he will be missed at subsequent competitions and Games. And as somebody who was looking forward to a bit more Thorpe gold, I've got to say I'm just a bit disappointed and a bit saddened as I think many Australians will be." Federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley

"He rates as the greatest swimmer in the world as far as freestyle swimming is concerned. I was hoping he may have gone on to Beijing to do the three events in a row and I guess in a way I'm sad. But that's selfish of me because he's made that decision for himself, he doesn't want to put himself under any more pressure, and I say thank you very much for what you've done." Olympic legend, Dawn Fraser

"In fifty years from now Australians will still marvel at the feats of Ian Thorpe.  Ian is our most successful Olympian ever and I thank him very much for his contribution.  He has been a great champion, a great inspiration for young Australians and a fine ambassador for his country." AOC President, John Coates

"It's an incredibly sad day not just for Australian swimming but for world swimming. They've lost one of their great athletes and a guy who has brought so much to the sport. Swimming's always been big at the Olympics and world championships but he made it bigger than ever. He was able to really bring the sport of swimming into the limelight with incredible performances. There's no words to describe right now how much he'll be missed by the sport in general." Friend, rival, team-mate, Grant Hackett

"Thorpe forced me to push myself beyond my limits.  I would have liked to swim against him one more time on his home ground at next year's world championships in Melbourne.  It will feel strange not to swim against him again. I'll feel like a fish out of water not having this big black fish beside me." Dutch swimmer, Pieter van den Hoogenband

"It's going to be sad because he was an inspirational performer and just so theatrical and just a glory to watch in his black suit and his rippling muscles and his focused attention. He could probably swim faster and I probably could have swum faster and won more medals but look, swimming's just swimming, there's a whole life out there. He's really saying ... I achieved all that I wanted to achieve and I felt that there was more in life to experience and do. There comes a time when that curiosity and that instinct is triggered." Australian swimming legend, Shane Gould

"I'd like to publicly thank Ian for the great memories he has given me and I wish him the best with whatever he decides to pursue next; whatever he does, I have no doubt he will do it successfully ........ By the age of 11, he was displaying incredible talent.  At 13, he basically won everything on offer at national age championships and it was then for the first time that I had no doubts this young man would one day be an Olympic and World Champion." Former coach and mentor, Doug Frost

"Thorpe was an inspiration and a terrific champion.  He elevated the worldwide interest in swimming and was a great ambassador to our sport.  I wish him the best of luck in the future." US swimming champion, Michael Phelps

"Thorpe was the greatest middle-distance swimmer of all time and he's the greatest relay swimmer I have ever seen. He will be remembered for his outstanding ability to raise the profile of the sport of swimming and popularize it to new levels." Bob Bowman, swimming coach of Michael Phelps

"His retirement ends one of sport's great rivalries.  Ian Thorpe is a great Olympic champion and his accomplishments and contributions to the sport are legendary." U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman, Darryl Seibel

"Despite Thorpe's retirement, he was still very much a part of the Australian swimming scene.  Ian's still part of the Australian swimming team and part of the Australian swimming culture.  It's an era of guys, Thorpe, Hackett, (Michael) Klim, (Matt) Welsh, (Geoff Huegill ...... Gradually that era will come to an end, but it's certainly still part of that era.  I think Ian's career is worthy of celebration." Australian head swimming coach, Alan Thompson

Portraits of a Champion
1998 Perth World Championships	2000 Sydney Olympics

Any examination of the swimming career of Ian Thorpe would not be complete without some reference to the innuendo and suspicion that hounded Ian Thorpe throughout his career. At the bottom of these snide remarks were two main issues.

The first was the question of performance enhancing drugs. The easiest way for Thorpe's rivals and doubters to explain his dominance in the sport was to suggest that he was a drug cheat.  After all, not only did this offer an excuse for their own short-comings, but it also served as a potential distraction for Thorpe. One which could easily detract from his performance.

Perhaps if these cynics had done their homework better, they would have discovered the true reasons for Thorpe's superiority. Careful analysis would have revealed Thorpe's stroke technique was close to perfect, and certainly far superior to any of his rivals. Furthermore, if they had considered his extraordinary physical attributes, sheer natural talent, strong work ethic and the expertise of his coaching, the reasons for Thorpe's dominance would have been even more apparent. However,  once they added in Thorpe's incredible determination, his will to win, the unshakeable inner strength and mental superiority he possessed, they would have come to one inescapable conclusion. Ian Thorpe didn't need performance enhancing drugs!

Ian's superiority was due to factors such as stroke technique, extraordinary physical attributes and mental strength.  He simply had no need to take performance enhancing substances.

Although the drug allegations disappointed and even hurt Thorpe to some degree, the cynics and detractors completely under-estimated Thorpe's amazing mental strength and sheer will to win. Thorpe was able to successfully use these allegations to strengthen his resolve to raise his performance to new levels. The Berlin saga in 2000 (see Career Highlights) was just one example of how Thorpe used these criticisms to his own advantage.

During his career, Thorpe was drug tested on many occasions in many different countries. On every occasion his results proved negative, except for the abnormal levels of testosterone found in a urine sample in May 2006. However, it should be noted carefully that Thorpe was subsequently exonerated of any wrong doing in that case, and it was further found that the raised level of testosterone was quite a natural occurrence. It should also be emphasized that throughout his whole career, Thorpe never displayed any of the physical signs of  drug abuse, and he remained one of the most prominent and vocal opponents of the use of drugs in both sport and in the community in general.

Ian was not like the typical sporting hero.
He was interested in clothing, reading, fashion and jewellery.

The second issue at the centre of innuendo about Ian Thorpe's life was the question of his sexual orientation. Even before Thorpe's fame had spread beyond Australia's shores, speculation about his sexuality was already beginning to surface. By the time his fame had reached mega status, the intensity of media scrutiny into this aspect of his life had increased many fold. But why was there such interest in Thorpe's sexuality?

It is very tempting to dismiss the whole issue of Thorpe's sexuality with the simple question, "So what?"  Or perhaps, "What difference does it really make?"  However, the whole question of the media's responsibility to maintain an ethical balance between reporting information to the sporting public and respecting a person's privacy remains a pivotal issue here.

Nevertheless, Ian Thorpe should be congratulated for the incredibly mature way in which he handled all the innuendo and snide remarks during his career. His conduct in response to all of this "crap" was further proof of his superior mental strength. Ian had already proven he could handle pressure in the pool, now he was showing the world that he had the stuff to handle adversity outside the pool as well.

Thorpe's Coaches
Doug Frost and Ian	Tracey Menzies and Ian

There are so many reasons why Ian Thorpe's name and accomplishments will linger long in the memory of millions of proud and grateful Australian sports fans. If we simply measure his greatness by success alone, Thorpe can boast a long and impressive list of victories at the very pinnacle of sporting endeavour. His success at Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Pan Pacific Championships is unrivalled by any other Australian athlete.

In addition to that impressive list of titles, Thorpe also set a staggering 22 world records during his career, and was the worthy recipient of a lengthy list of prestigious awards and honours from a variety of countries and organizations throughout the world. But, there are many other factors, beyond success alone, that distinguish the career of Ian Thorpe.

Perhaps the most significant of these factors was the amazing manner in which he conducted himself, both in and out of the pool. This clearly sets him apart from many of the other sporting greats. How many of them demonstrated the same demeanour, modesty, humility, discipline or sportsmanship that Thorpe consistently displayed during his impeccable career?  Thorpe not only exuded these very qualities but he established them as a form of personal trademark, and in so doing, he demonstrated a level of maturity far beyond his years.

When Thorpie was doing his thing, it was so easy to forget, that for the greatest part of his career, he was just a teenager. A youngster who had to cope not only with the normal challenges and pressures faced by others in his age group, but also the added pressures of maintaining an almost Spartan training regime, competing at the highest level against the best in the world and handling the intense media scrutiny that comes with the territory. Not to mention, of course, the burden of carrying the hopes and expectations of a sports mad nation into the next major competition, or trying to cope with the innuendo and accusations about his sexuality and use of performance enhancing drugs.

But, through all of these testing trials and tribulations, Thorpe maintained his composure and controlled his emotions with such grace and poise that his career served as an inspirational role model to the next generation of young Australians. Not just for the budding young swimmers or the aspiring athletes around the country, but to every young person who ever dares to chase a dream or seriously seeks to realize his true potential.

Ian proved time and time again that he was one of the greatest relay swimmers of all time. 

Greg Hunter, the author who wrote a comprehensive biography of Ian Thorpe a few years back, realized very early in his association with Ian, that the young man was so immersed in his swimming that he had great difficulty in recognizing the true scope and magnitude of his feats. "He didn't beat his own drum too much," Hunter said. "In fact, he never really appreciated himself."

That may well be true about Ian, but it certainly wasn't the case with the rest of Australia!  We did recognize the magnitude of his accomplishments, and we were aware of the contribution he made to this country. He made us feel good to be Australian, and he made us even prouder of our nation's wealth of sporting achievements.

In conclusion, Sports Card World congratulates Ian on his accomplishments thus far. We celebrate his successes in the past and look forward to the contribution Ian will undoubtedly make in the future. We feel certain that he has a lot more to offer, particularly through the Ian Thorpe Fountain for Youth programme that supports children in need by improving health and education outcomes, especially amongst indigenous children in Australia.

Ian Thorpe may have "discontinued" his swimming career, but somehow I think Ian Thorpe has only just started the most exciting and productive phase of his life.  And just like in his swimming career, you can be certain of one thing!  If things do get tough, and the path ahead looks  difficult, we'll always be able to rely on Thorpie shifting up a gear, and powering us to victory with that famous six beat kick!! 

Hell, I reckon he could even do it with his head out of the water, using an invented variation of the dog paddle.......and with one hand tied behind his back!    No worries!

The Future: Fountain for Youth
Ian's pursuits in the future will no doubt have a distinct resemblance to his swimming career. Full on and committed! No doubt he will continue to be inspired by people like Christina's brother-in-law, Michael Williams (above left). His work with his foundation, 'Fountain for Youth' will also continue so that children like those in the Northern Territory (above right) will have better health and educational outcomes in the very near future.