Ian Thorpe |
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| Awarded Titles: |
Young Australian of the Year (2000) |
| D.O.B: |
13 Oct 1982 |
| Place of Birth: |
Milperra (Sydney), NSW, Australia |
| Height: |
195cm |
| Weight: |
104kg |
| Club: |
SLC Aquadot, NSW, Australia |
| Coach: |
Tracey Menzies (2002-06)
Doug Frost (pre-2002) |
| Sport: |
Swimming: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m individual medley |
| Nickname: |
the Thorpedo, Thorpey, Flipper |
| Fastest 14yo swimmer: |
As at the end of 2006, Ian holds the record for being the fastest 14yo male swimmer in swimming history |
| Personal Bests: |
200m: 1:45.51 minutes
400m: 3:41.33 minutes
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| Other interests: |
Enjoys going to the movies, surfing & computer games |
History
At 8yo, Thorpe began squad training. Initially, he was allergic to cholorine but then grew out of it.
At 14yo (1997), he held the record for being the fastest 14yo male swimmer. He was also selected for the Australian team for the Fukuoka Pan Pacific Championships, becoming the youngest male to represent Australia in swimming.
At 15yo (1998), his 400m win in Perth made him the youngest ever world champion.
Ian suffered a broken bone in his ankle in 1999.
In 1999, Thorpe received a bonus of $25,000 for setting the first world record in the Sydney Olympic pool. He then donated the money to children's cancer research and a youth crisis program, in honour of a childhood friend who had suffered non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
In 2000, he was named Young Australian of the Year.
He was controversially disqualified for a false start at the 2004 Olympic swimming trials. Only later, he was given a place
when Craig Stevens (placed 3rd) pulled out to give Ian a place in the event in Athens, which he went on to win.
Career Highlights
| 1998 |
- World Championships, Perth: won 400m freestyle
- C'wealth Games, Kuala Lumpur: 4 Gold medals (200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 2 x 200m freestyle relay, 4 x 100m freestyle relay
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| 1999 |
- Pacific Championships: New world record, 400m freestyle, broke world record for 200m freestyle twice in consecutive days
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| 2000 |
- Australian Olympic Swim Trials: bettered own 400m freestyle mark, lowered 200m freestyle world record twice again
- Sydney Olympics: 200m freestyle (1 min 45.83 secs), 2nd
- 400m freestyle (3 mins 40.59 secs), 1st
- 4 x 100m freestyle relay (3 mins 13.67 secs), 1st
- 4 x 200m freestyle relay (7 mins 7.05 secs), 1st
- 4 x 100m medley relay (3 mins 35.27 secs), 2nd
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| 2004 |
- Athens Olympics: 400m freestyle (3:43.10), 1st
- 4 x 100m freestyle relay (3:15.77), 6th
- 200m freestyle (1:44.71 Olympic record), 1st
- 4 x 200m freestyle relay, 1:44.18 (7:07.46), 2nd
- 100m freestyle (48.56), 3rd
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