Ian Thorpe's inspirational journey has taken him, in less than 20 years, to the very pinnacle of achievement. His record as a swimmer is extraordinary enough, as a multiple world champion, and winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals, but there is much more to this supreme athlete. As Young Australian of the Year he is a role model for all Australians, and his eloquence, intelligence and strength of character make him a spokesperson for his generation.
At age 14, Ian Thorpe became the youngest male to qualify for an Australian swim team. His international debut was at the Pan Pacific Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, where he broke personal bests in all events he entered and finally won a silver medal behind Grant Hackett in the 400m freestyle with a time of 3:49.64. Since then, Thorpe and his size 17 feet ("They have finally stopped growing," says Thorpe) have gone on to new heights with Thorpe winning the 400m freestyle World Championship title in January 1998, becoming the youngest male world champion in swimming history.
Ian's swimming career started with the help of his sister, Christina. When he was 8, he got sick of watching his sister swim and decided to jump in too! However, he definitely wasn't serious about swimming until about 3 years ago. Soon after that, he rose to prominence at the National and State Age championships where he won everything from the 400m individual medley to the 50m freestyle. Though he originally concentrated on backstroke, he switched to freestyle and now competes in the 100m, 200m and 400m events. Someone did suggest to Thorpe the 1500m freestyle, but he insists it's too far.
The pool is not the only place where Ian excels. While in high school, he usually scored in the top 5% of every subject except for mathematics. This was no small achievement considering he wakes up at 4:15 am for training and then heads off to train again in the afternoon. He has been taking correspondence courses since 1998 and now plans to go to university.
His achievements in the pool have been many. At the 1998 World Swimming Championships, he won a gold medal in the 400m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay. The 400m free was considered one of the finest races of the meet with Ian being behind his teammate, Grant Hackett, for most of the race. After the final turn, he edged closer to Grant, levelled, and finally overtook him to win in a time of 3:46.29.
At the 1998 Australian Swimming Championships, Thorpe won the 400m freestyle and the 200m freestyle. His time of 1:47.24 was a new Commonwealth record and he beat world champion Michael Klim in the process. He came 2nd to Klim in the 100m freestyle, thus winning a place in Australia's Commonwealth Games team in 3 events. At the Games, he won 4 Gold Medals - one in the 200m, 400m free and the other two in the relays. He was part of the world-record breaking Australian 4x200m freestyle relay team.
Thorpe has also did very well at the 1998/99 FINA World Cups, and at the World Short-course Championships in Hong Kong. In November 1998, Ian was name Male Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine.
At the 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Ian won 4 Gold Medals. More incredibly is that he broke the 200m and 400m freestyle world records, and was part of the 4x200m freestyle Australian relay team that broke the world record. The other gold medal came from the 4x100m freestyle relay. Ian was later named Male Swimmer of the Meet. At the Australian Short-course Championships in Canberra held after the Pan Pacs, he picked up 2 Gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle. Not surprisingly, he was named Australian Swimmer of the Year and Swimming World's World Swimmer of the Year for 1999.
Capping of Thorpe's amazing success in 1999 was being awarded Young Australian of the Year, an honour that recognises him as one of Australia's highest achievers and not just in sport. He was also given the Young Australian Sports Award.
In the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Thorpe went on another record-breaking spree. In May at the Australian Selection Trials, he broke his own world record in the 400m freestyle with a time of 3:41.33 and the 200m freestyle (1:45.51). He has also qualified to represent Australia at the Olympics in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relay teams.
Finally at his first Olympics, he certainly lived up to the hype, winning three gold medals and two silver. He broke the world record again for the 400m freestyle and anchored the Australian 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay to an exciting win against the United States, breaking yet another record. He was also part of the 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay that won gold in world record time. In the 200m freestyle, however, Thorpe had to settle for the silver behind the in-form Pieter van den Hoogenband. To top off his first Olympic experience, Thorpe was given the honour of carrying the Australian flag into the Closing Ceremony.
Thorpe went on a whirlwind world publicity tour after the Olympics. Among the highlights; a guest of designer Giorgio Armani at his show in New York, guest on TV shows Jay Leno and Friends, and meeting American President Clinton and family.
The recent Athens Olympic Games are when Ian confirmed his legendary status. Thorpe claimed gold medals in the 200 and 400 metre freestyle, silver in the 4x200 freestyle relay and a bronze in the 100 metres freestyle.
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