Thorpe does not fit Aussie stereotype
Source: AFP |
November 1, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
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AUSTRALIAN pool legend Ian Thorpe admits he is a nerdy bookworm who hardly fits the stereotype of an Australian sportsman, but says rumors he is gay are simply not true.
Launching his autobiography "This is Me" yesterday, the five-time Olympic gold medallist spoke of depression and his failure to qualify for the London Games in his comeback bid.
"This is a very different book than I intended," said Thorpe, now 30, adding that it was supposed to be the story of someone who got back in the pool and achieved "the success he had in the past". "Unfortunately... it didn't turn out that way. I didn't qualify for the Olympics and I didn't have the ending that I anticipated and also hoped for."
Thorpe, who won his first world title at the age of 15 and was just 17 when he first won Olympic gold, grew up in the media spotlight, and said from the age of 20 he sometimes felt like leaving the sport. He held on to sensationally quit swimming at the age of 24, and writes in the book that he knew he was retiring prematurely and could have achieved more but was "bitter with the constant pursuit, accusations and innuendo".
On his sexuality, he writes: "I accept there's nothing else I can say or do.
"There'll always be people who are sceptical; people who want me to be gay, and others who'll try and use it against me. It should have been over and done with a long time ago but people have remained obsessed with it and need to find an explanation which suits their perspective."
He said he finds the fact that people question what he is saying hurtful.
"I think it's because I don't fit into the typical stereotype of... what Australian athletes have been in the past," he said. "I guess I behave differently. I'm a nerd; I'm just someone that happened to be good at sport as well."
Thorpe said that he realized "something wasn't quite right" when he was in his mid-teens, but at the time did not know it was depression. He sought help but admits he turned to alcohol.
Launching his autobiography "This is Me" yesterday, the five-time Olympic gold medallist spoke of depression and his failure to qualify for the London Games in his comeback bid.
"This is a very different book than I intended," said Thorpe, now 30, adding that it was supposed to be the story of someone who got back in the pool and achieved "the success he had in the past". "Unfortunately... it didn't turn out that way. I didn't qualify for the Olympics and I didn't have the ending that I anticipated and also hoped for."
Thorpe, who won his first world title at the age of 15 and was just 17 when he first won Olympic gold, grew up in the media spotlight, and said from the age of 20 he sometimes felt like leaving the sport. He held on to sensationally quit swimming at the age of 24, and writes in the book that he knew he was retiring prematurely and could have achieved more but was "bitter with the constant pursuit, accusations and innuendo".
On his sexuality, he writes: "I accept there's nothing else I can say or do.
"There'll always be people who are sceptical; people who want me to be gay, and others who'll try and use it against me. It should have been over and done with a long time ago but people have remained obsessed with it and need to find an explanation which suits their perspective."
He said he finds the fact that people question what he is saying hurtful.
"I think it's because I don't fit into the typical stereotype of... what Australian athletes have been in the past," he said. "I guess I behave differently. I'm a nerd; I'm just someone that happened to be good at sport as well."
Thorpe said that he realized "something wasn't quite right" when he was in his mid-teens, but at the time did not know it was depression. He sought help but admits he turned to alcohol.
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