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Ian Thorpe Profile |
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Birth Date: October 13, 1982
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Birth Place: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Birth Name: Ian James Thorpe
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Height: 6'5"
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Ian Thorpe Wallpapers |
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Biography |
Ian James Thorpe OAM, also known as the Thorpedo, is an
Australian swimmer who, after winning the 200 and 400 metre
freestyle races at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, became known
as one of the greatest middle-distance swimmers of all time.
He has won five Olympic Games gold medals, more than any
other Australian.
Thorpe was born in Milperra, in the south-western suburbs of
Sydney, and was educated at East Hills Boys High School
(other famous alumni include Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh).
Although Thorpe's father, Ken, excelled as a cricketer, Ian
did not have the same ability. Instead, he followed his
sister, Christina, into competitive swimming. Thorpe made
his first impact in 1997, when he was selected at 14 for the
Australian team at the Pan Pacific competition in Fukuoka,
Japan, becoming the youngest male to represent Australia in
swimming. He came second to another Australian teenager,
Grant Hackett, in the 400 metre freestyle, beginning a
rivalry which has continued ever since. He also excelled in
the 200 metre butterfly at junior level, setting Australian
age records in the event, but has not competed in the event
at international level.
Since 1998 Thorpe has completely dominated the 400 metre
freestyle event, winning the event at the 2000 Summer
Olympic Games, the 2001 and 2003 Fukuoka and Barcelona World
Championships (he won a total of six gold medals at the
former), at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002, the Pan
Pacific Championships in 1999 and 2002 and again in Athens.
His dominance has broadened to include the 200 and 400 metre
freestyle (at which he holds the world record), and he is
one of the fastest 100 metre freestylers in the world. He
has been nicknamed "Thorpedo" by the Australian press for
his swimming prowess.
Thorpe has also pushed Australian relay teams to
unprecedented success, anchoring the winning 4x100 and
leading off the 4x200 freestyle relay teams in Sydney, the
first time the United States had ever been beaten in the
former event. In total, he has broken world records (either
individually or as part of a relay team) 22 times.
Thorpe's success is based on a strong work ethic, attention
to detail, flawless technique, mental strength, and a
physiology suited to swimming. At 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) and 105
kg (231 lb), he is very large for a swimmer and many thought
that as he matured and continued to grow he would be unable
to maintain his performance as a teenager. He has however,
been able to maintain a trademark six-beat kick to power
away to victory in the closing stages of races, attributed
to his unnaturally large feet.
In 1998, Thorpe entered the swimming spotlight when he won
the 400 m freestyle at the World Championships in Perth,
out-touching Hackett, and thus becoming the youngest male to
become world-champion in a swimming event. He later combined
with Hackett, Michael Klim, and Daniel Kowalski to win the
4x200 m freestyle relay, starting a six-year winning streak
for Australia in this event. He went on to the 1998
Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, winning both the 200 m
and 400 m freestyle, in the former, defeating Klim, the
world champion in the event. He also claimed gold in the
4x100 m and 4x200 m freestyle relays, breaking the world
record in the latter along with Klim, Kowalski and Matt
Dunn.
In 1999, at the Pan-Pacific Championships in Sydney, he
broke his first world records, setting a time of 3.41.83 in
the 400 m to break Kieren Perkins' mark by almost two
seconds, which was hitherto regarded as one of the most
impressive records of its time. He also twice lowered the
200 m freestyle world record at the same meet. He helped
Australia to record its first ever victory in the 4x100 m
freestyle relay over the United States, and also helped
lower the 4x200 m freestyle relay world record, with Klim,
Hackett and Bill Kirby. This was surrounded by controversy,
as some cynics pointed to his fullbody swimsuit, which was
the first of its kind to be used.
Thorpe's campaign at the 2000 Sydney Olympics was for his
standards, somewhat mixed. At the selection trials in May,
he had again lowered his world records in both the 200 m and
400 m, and was regarded as being unstoppable. He duly broke
the 400 m world record again en route to the gold medal in
the event. He later lined up alongside Klim, Chris Fydler
and Ashley Callus to anchor the 4x100 m freestyle relay, an
event in which the Americans had never been beaten. After
Klim had broken the individual world record, Fydler and
Callus clung onto the arm-length lead, with Thorpe ready to
dual with Gary Hall Jr., the silver medallist from the
previous Olympics. Thorpe timed his dive much better than
Hall, and surfaced a body length ahead. Hall then overtook
Thorpe, but Thorpe fought back in the last 40 m with his
late-finishing style to deliver victory, just 0.17s ahead of
the Americans, breaking the world record and claiming the
gold medal. It sparked wild celebrations amongst the
partisan crowd, and evoked an uncharacteristic celebration
from Thorpe. Whereas he would usually stare calmly at the
scoreboard and slowly pump his fists, Thorpe immediately
jumped out of the pool, screaming and hugging his ecstatic
teammates. He even played "air guitar" to mock Hall's
pre-race claim to smash the Australians like guitars.
Perhaps feeling emotionally drained, Thorpe appeared to be
rattled when Pieter van den Hoogenband, broke his 200 m
freestyle world record in the semifinal. In the final,
Hoogenband, a 100 m specialist, attacked early, and Thorpe
responded, abandoning his usual strategy of late-finishing.
However, this drained Thorpe, and he was unable to unleash
his finishing burst and he was defeated. Perhaps wanting to
reclaim his record, Thorpe led off the 4x200 m relay the
following night, but failed. Nevertheless, along with Kirby,
Klim and Todd Pearson, the Australians again claimed gold,
lowering the world record once again.
In 2001, Thorpe showed an intention to recapture his 200 m
world record and improve as a swimmer. This was shown when
he broke the 200 m, 400 m and 800 m freestyle world records
at the Australian Championships in Hobart. He proceeded to
again win all three events at the 2001 World Championships
in Fukuoka, this time unperturbed by van den Hoogenband's
fast-starting style. He also combined with Hackett, Klim and
Kirby to cut more than 2 seconds off the 4x200 m freestyle
relay world record, and also anchored the 4x100 m freestyle
and medley relays to gold. In the medley relay he set the
fastest ever 100 m split, but he was unable to reproduce
this in the 100 m final, finishing fourth.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games Thorpe again broke his 400 m
world record, as well as winning the 200 m and 100 m events,
and all three relays. However, he appeared unusually angry
after the 200 m event, expressing disappointment at not
breaking his own world record. He also claimed a silver
medal in the 100 m backstroke, with which he was
experimenting at the time. Although he repeated the winning
dose immediately after (except the 4x100 m medley) at Pan
Pacific Championships in Yokohama, he controversially split
with his lifelong coach, Doug Frost to train with Tracy
Menzies, one of Frost's assistants.
At the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, his first
competition under Menzies, Thorpe again won the 200 m, 400 m
and 4x200 m freestyle events; however all were at a lower
pace than when he split with Frost. He also collected a
bronze in the 100 m, his first medal at world level in the
event. In another experiment, he collected a silver in the
200 m Individual Medley.
Thorpe's preparations for the Athens Olympics were clouded
by controversy. In late March 2004 Thorpe competed in the
qualification events at the Australian Championships. He was
disqualified from the 400 m freestyle after making a false
start, when he lost balance and tumbled into the water.
Australia's Olympic selection rules allow for a qualifier to
stand down, and for another swimmer to be selected in their
place. After some deliberation, the second qualifier, Craig
Stevens, withdrew from the event, and Thorpe accepted the
offered place.
At the Athens Olympics, there was immense pressure on Thorpe
to win the 400 m freestyle following Stevens' deferral.
Thorpe swam somewhat unconvincingly, with several changes of
pace, but managed to hang on and touch out Hackett. Thorpe
appeared to shed tears, another uncharacteristic sign of
emotion, but he later denied that any liquid had left his
eyes. His victory in the 200 metres at Athens pitted him
against American swimmer Michael Phelps, Sydney gold
medallist Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands and
his fellow Australian Grant Hackett. The race attracted
unprecedented media attention in Australia as The race of
the century, and Thorpe's victory made him one of the most
celebrated Australian athletes of all time. He added a
silver in the 4x200 m freestyle relay and a bronze in the
100 m freestyle.
After the Athens Olympics, Thorpe took 17 months off from
competitive swimming, skipping the 2005 World Championships.
Thorpe qualified for the 2006 Commonwealth Games by winning
the final of the 200 m freestyle on 31 January 2006 as well
as winning the final of the 100 m freestyle on 2 February
2006. Thorpe has somewhat controversially let go of his pet
event, the 400 m freestyle with a view of concentrating on
the 100 m freestyle. On March 7, 2006, Thorpe announced that
he had withdrawn from the 2006 Commonwealth Games due to
bronchitis. He was replaced by Craig Stevens[1] who
qualified fastest for the 400 m final but was unable to
capitalise on this success for a medal finish. He did not
partake in the World Championships in Shanghai 2006, as he
had skipped the Australian Short Course Championships in
late 2005. The illness that floored Thorpe has been
diagnosed as a strain of Glandular Fever and is likely to
haunt him for the rest of his career.
Away from the pool, Thorpe in many ways defies the
stereotype of Australian sportspeople. He is quiet,
mild-mannered, thoughtful, articulate, but extremely guarded
in his statements, and he reportedly makes considerable
efforts to insulate himself from the media when preparing
for and during important events. His lack of interest in
(and aptitude for) other sports is well-known. Instead, his
other enthusiasm appears to be fashion, as an ambassador for
Armani clothing and his own range of designer jewellery. He
was a presenter at the 2005 TV Week Logies, and one of the
backers of new A-league team Sydney FC.
Thorpe's performances in Sydney and Athens have made him a
national hero in Australia, a country which reveres sporting
stars. He has recently bought a $2.9 million house in
Caringbah, a southern suburb of Sydney.
Due to his popularity in Japan, where he was mobbed at the
airport upon arriving for competition in 2001 and 2002, he
agreed to be a tourism ambassador for Australia. |
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Other Information |
Was the youngest person to ever join the Australian Mens'
Swim Team.
Is the honorary Australian Ambassador for Tourism in Japan.
Holds 22 world records in swimming.
With the exception of his athletic ability, Ian is best
known for his size 17 feet.
His father, Ken, was once a professional Cricket player
His mother, Margaret, is a teacher
His older sister, Christina, was also a swimmer
Speaks fluent French
Won three gold and two silver medals at the Sydney 2000
Olympic Games
Ian won the 2003 Swimmer of the Year and has done so
consecutively for the last 3 years being the only person to
do so.
On the morning of September 11th, he was on his way to the
observation deck at the World Trade Center when he realized
he forgot his camera. He went back to get it, and when he
turned on the television in his room he saw the North Tower
ablaze.
He likes watching Friends.
He was awarded $A10,000 following the 2000 Summer Olympics
as a recipient of the Powerade Never Give Up Award and
immediately gave it all to charity.
At fifteen, he became the youngest gold medalist in World
Championships history.
Created his own 2004 signature underwear line named 'it'. |
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