Ian Thorpe Quits (part 1 of 2)

[zantraux123]

why would he come back retarded

[viddymeenow]

@Eden2089 I saw a Tennis Channel bio a few years ago WITH an interview w/ Bjorn & his elderly parents admitting he was broke & living with them. Maybe things have changed for him, which I hope. No need to snarl & wet yourself over a YouTube comment...go to Ikea & buy yourself a life....

[sweetnesxxxx]

hehehehhe he's comming back!

[AquaticSkipper]

Don't start this Thorpe vs Phelps crap again, they are both amazing athletes, You can't compare them they focus on different strokes and distances. The only one they really had in common was 200m freestyle and Thorpe always beat Phelps in it. There's no better or worse swimmer, Thorpe is an amazing person, an amazing athlete and the world of sport will miss his grace and personality. He's truly a king of swimming as a sport

[viddymeenow]

Love Ian Thorpe--but to retire at 25?? Bjorn Borg did that--now he's bankrupt & living with his parents in Stockholm....

[Eden2089]

@viddymeenow Björn Borg does not live with his parents. He lives with wife and child in a huge mansion. Stop bullshitting. I live in the same city, I know.

[JENNY82ist1]

@samuelflower phelps said that ian critized him but he lied.phelps has always been jealous because ian is handsome and cute , phelps looks like a monster hahaha.ian was already a multimillionaire at 17 but phelps is not rich .phelps has nothing except his medals , phelps has never been an idol and will NEVER be.ian is an idol in australia and in asia.phelps the monster, he is the ugliest and most devilish man i have ever seen .hahhahhhaian thorpe THE BEST FOREVER.

[JENNY82ist1]

@samuelflower you criticizes ian because he is the best and he is cute sexy nice.phelps is a devilish guy, he slept with prostitutes took drug , was arrested by the police , you support phelps because you' re like him.thorpe beat phelps in athens that' s why you' re happy he is retired.but ian is very famous in his country ,nobody knows phelps in the us ,phelps is NOTHING and i hope this devilish guy will go to hell with you.moreover ian has never criticized phelps

[Konfucyus]

yanlış yaptın usta sevenlerini üzdün

[themagicone0ont]

You can't compare the period before Speedo's LZR Racer with the period after. Before Speedo's LZR Racer it was all about to tune technics and power together. Now it's more power swimming and due the Racer you can do it for a long time. Don't get me wrong, Phelps is a great swimmer but w/o the Racer it's very unlikely that he would have won 8gold medals because he would have been to tired for all the heats/finals. He's also lucky that he is American so he does have a great relay team behind him.

[themagicone0ont]

That relay team also benefits a lot from the fast suits due the 'lack' of talent, in comparisation with Michael. I think Phelps is the best IM+Butterfly swimmer ever but the best freestyle swimmers ever are Popov, van den Hoogenband and Thorpe, they got something special. Guys like Sullivan, Bernard a/o only swim so fast because of their suits. Before spring 2008 nobody except VDH swim <48.00seconds on the 100m, 6months later everyone did. Same for the 200m free.

[jeffswims]

i'm praying that you start swimming again...

[swimmer7829]

It takes a great amount of courage to do what Ian did, especially since he was one of the best wilmmers in the world. I definatly look up to him as an amazing person.

[kenylay]

ian thorpe never used drugs during races !

[greenglance183]

did he really use drugs during his sport career? I mean are there any documents, or scandals with his name involved in these??

[UNo0b]

bloodroses the doping scandal was AFTER this, he had already quit and the droping scandal was also a load of shit; ian thorpe has the perfect technique for his physique and his results showed that (not because he was a cheater).

[bloodroses25]

It just seems odd to me (and I am sure that for many people as well) that he would just quit at the height of his career. I dont hear much over here in the states about him to begin withBut I remember hearing something about him and how his drug test came out positive or somethingand then the next thing I hear is that he is quittingI dont know about you guys but I think and can almost bet that that is the reason why he quitI could be wrong but yeah now something smells fishy.

[abercrombie10]

he beat you gold medall before retired....check it out probably you wont be writting crap.

[fgfhga]

we miss you ian

[matteogege92]

i want you to swim again... i've never seen anyone swimming like you... ian, return in the pool!!!

[ttamsanatas]

USA governament did pay lots of money for Thorpe quit the pools!!!! So they could have a chance to beat China in this games. But I think this move is not gonna work it all. Thorpe's evolution was much faster than Phelps!! And dont forget, the faster swimmer in the world at this time is Cielo from Brazil ( 50m freestyle )

[animefreak149]

eamon sullivan fastest of all time(cielo didn't beat his world record)

[vsmitty90]

HA ok keep thinking that, whatever makes you aussies feel better. trust me the goverment could care less about the olympics. he quit because he could never top what he did in athens and sydney.

[ChairRox93]

is that true? You know about the paying him off thing?

Cause i really don't think Ian would stop for money

[caucexican]

What the hell are you talking about? Why the hell would America give two shits about Ian Thorpes swimming career. He knew that Mike was about to beat the shit out of him in the 200 free at Worlds so he got out while he could. Don't get me wrong, I like and respect Ian. But he has been the golden boy of swimming for sometime now, so its understandable if he wanted to go out on top. And haha, if you are going to spit facts out about swimming like you know something, get your facts straight.

[samuelflower]

Totally right! America doesn't give a shit about Thorpe! I have more respect for other Australian swimmers like Eamon Sullivan than Thorpe! Eamon rocks! Thorpe's ego is so big, it requires its own zip code! Thorpe dissed Phelps and said he couldn't win Gold medals in Beijing! Ha, showed him! Thorpe also said in 2003 that Phelps was an 'unproven, international swimmer'. What? Phelps held a WORLD RECORD at 15! I'm glad Thorpe is retired! Bring on Eamon and Andrew Lauterstein, Aussies are sexy!

[juandi2570]

Man, Phelps is a phenomeNal swimmer, get it into your head. Phelp's progression has been amazing since 2001 and the USA government didn't pay anything to Thorpe to quit. Thorpe quit coz he wanted to quit at the top so please be quiet brazilian boy.

[TravelingColeberrys]

i miss him

[DecemberWind]

We miss you Ian, for you swim was a passion, not a business, Phelps is a good example.

[barskaya]

I just saw 4x100 Man's relay in Beijing, Americans won. (Phelps got 8th gold medal)Camera found Thorp among other spectators on the seats. Gorgeous man. He was sitting there and knocking tears from his eyes. He misses it, I can tell.

[4rkeen1112]

i saw that!!! that made my night to see him again!!! i was just happy i wasnt the only one crying @ that moment!!!LOL

[lizziecocopops]

miss seeing Ian Thorpe in the pool!

[Stingerbillion]

Ian started his swimming career long before Phelps, age 14-23, which is really special for thorpe. There will never be the greatest swimmer as thorpe long time for Australia. While Phelps is breaking records and counting his additional gold medals, Thorpe was in it to enjoy it, his passion! Phelps, I know, thanks God everyday that Thorpe has retired or else he couldn't have won all 12 gold medals.

[svendeddy3]

I agree completely!! i want thorpe back to own phelps and shut him up

[DSchiebs]

totally, if thorpe wasnt even at his best at athens and he still beat stupid phelps, im american and a swimmer and i cant stand phelps

[kristianelim]

why would u hate ur fellow american.. i like thorpe too, and so is phelps.. whats not to like about phelps.?

[michellex4292]

i miss him.

[MagicSenna84]

i miss u ian, legend.

[MONster2054]

i think we should stop comparing phelps and ian thorpe; yes phelps is probably the best swimmer, ever, and we won't see anyone who could dominate the sport as he has in quite some time. but thorpe was just as great at what he did. he is probably the best middle-distance swimmer of all time. he IS a legend and will be remembered for years to come. and also, we should not forget how he has brought so much more attention to the sport and put it in the spotlight.

[aryalara]

YES! THANK YOU! i totally agree

stop comparing! there's nothin to compare...cuz each swimmer is great in his/her own way...so i don't see any reason to put Phelps down in order to praise Thorpe...both are great and will always be remembered...n' i think seein both of em race in the 200free would have been one of the best races ever...

[starlight81023875]

i will miss him too! =[

[gangstah321]

l0l he made australia sad n the world hapi...=[

(you know wat i mean)

[pnppltd]

i miss him so much! he was the A1!

[shawn42280]

phelps this phelps that watever....ian thorpe is a legend.greatest swimmer ever.sorry america ur swimmer is overrated.

[asa31191]

phelps isn't overrated mate. the fact that ian thorpe wasn't as hyped up as phelps is being right now is wrong, but phelps has worked his way to his fame. ian thorpe deserved much more hype than he actually got. i find it surprising that you made that post the day after phelps broke yet another world redord.

[InfinityBlaze]

Those gold medals speak for themeelves...

[sabretoothed99]

Who's his girlfriend?

[go2magic]

He dated Tahyna Tozzi in 2004 and he dated Lee Furlong around 2005.

[Xlucianox88]

One of the saddest days in australian sport

[Dragonstratoforce]

not just for australian sport, for the world sport...

[DirtyMinxx]

BOOORING....dude dah made me yawn wtf is he on bwt man aussies can go on n on cnt dey lol

[optimusprime341]

Ian Thorpe will always be the best to me and my family... he was great at what he did

[theanson]

thorpe is a great swimmer - one of the greatest - and he has given Australia a wonderful champion over the years, but it must be said...

that speech was one of the most self-indulgent, boring and bizarre annoucements that a person could make. the blind date? the autobiographic nature of it and his inner-most thinkings, blah, blah, blah. Ian - how much do you think we really care about how you're feeling? just get to the decision, for crying out loud and take your hand off it, mate.

[felix8287]

Actually his fans care, they care quite a lot.

[sydneyown1]

anyone who didn't understand it's the comment under me first then the one under it. so it's a long comment.

[sydneyown1]

ok, this is an issue that's really starting to bug me. i'm so sick of people judging each other's sexuality and so there's a lot of people starting rumours that ian thorpe is gay. so what? if he is, don't worry about it, he's said that he's straight may a times so just take that as your answer "HE'S NOT GAY" alright.

[sydneyown1]

i'm sorry but this is just beyond a joke, a lot of people are saying oh just come out. yeah if he said that then you'd ridicule him. honestly i just don't understand the human race. personally i have respect for those who are gay because they're proud of themselves for taking the challenge of admitting it. and it's no body's right to question any one's orientation based on the way they're dressed, their tone of voice, or anything else.

[felix8287]

What's wrong with everyone? I thought the way he handled himself here was pretty magnanimous!

[francisco0416]

bye ian, thanks for be my inspiration

[sucrehou111]

i have to say

ian is a great swimmer on freestyle

but michael is a talent on any style

[lovebug1999]

I completely agree with you!! USA all the way!!!!1!!

[crystalblue63]

Man. Imagine growing up with so much media attention that you can't even pick your teeth without people accusing you of being arrogant, gay, past your prime, too young, old, overweight, or just generally unbecoming when you wear grey and purple together.

The guy is australias greatest swimmer. Can't everyone just leave it at that.

[theliman]

And it looks like that is exactly what hes setting out to do.

[theliman]

What a tortured soul. HE really needs to come out of the closet. He is a man haunted. This is what happens when you push yourself at an elite level when at the same time your purity is gone. That stress just draines you. And we can all see that. So I hope one day he resolves whats inside so he can do what he loves.

[elijah509]

michael phelps is now the favorite

[lovebug1999]

He always has been!

[Maztooki]

Its bloody stupid of him deciding to retire rather than just comming out of the closet. I think that hidden part of him was the heaviest burden of his career. Come out Thorpie, it's no big deal.

[wangyinan928]

??? first time i've heard doubts anout his sexuality.

And what does being in the closet have anything to do with retiring?

[greenacrobat]

trust me its a BIG deal

[ramones951]

Why... There are so many more new faces in swimming who are more promising than Ian Thorpe

[superdave31]

^^ who is your friend?

Anyway, i only found out about this today at siwmming club lol - cant believe this wasnt in the uk papers.

anyway, hes loaded for life anyway now like he will run out of money!

great swimmer tho, good bloke, and good luck

[bellaboo12]

if you are reading this ian congrats on your decision mate. I have a friend who is an olympic swimmer and she is trying to a make a decision about her swimming career as well. It is such a hard thing for her to do so watching you do this with such strength and courage may help her. Good on you for doing what makes you happy. You are an inspiration!!

[anita2987]

Thanks Ian for al those great races wish u the best for your life outside the pool

[lshung]

So disappointed,So Sad when i heard the news

[gustublex]

If there´s any who sees Ian or if it´s you Ian that are reading this, I'd like to ask you for one thing keep swimming (not competitions) just for you. I think otherwise, if you don´t, pools around the world will be a bit sad, and who wants that.

[dodo5678]

aww.. now i'm less excited for 2008

[ramones951]

Why... There are so many more new faces in swimming who are more promising than Ian Thorpe

[jeanthepinky]

awwww thorpy.. good bye xx

[dontneed]

Thanks for posting this. Could you (splatt3d) add the tag "retires" "retirement" "quits" etc to make it easier for others to find? thanks

[splatt3d]

no worries, done =)