Ian Thorpe

Nationality: Australian Born: 13 October 1982 Height: 6'5" Star sign: Libra Famous for: "Winning Gold a zillion times at the Olympics, nickname the "Thorpedo"." Quirky Quote:

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Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe was born in the south-western Sydney suburb of Milperra on October 13, 1982.  Both parents were competitive sportspeople: mother Margaret was an A-Grade netballer, and father Ken a cricket player for Bankstown club. Thorpe took up swimming by chance as a five-year-old, after tagging along to swimming lessons with elder sister Christina. He overcame a chlorine allergy to start swimming competitively while at primary school and, at age 14, was selected to represent Australia in the 1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Fukoka Japan, becoming the youngest male ever to be selected for this team.

Thorpe soon started getting spectacular results on the world stage. He won two gold medals at the 1998 World Aquatic Championships in Perth, and four more at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, where he also broke the Commonwealth record for 200m freestyle. All this was achieved before Thorpe completed Year 10 at school and deciding to suspend his studies to focus on swimming.

Thorpe’s meteoric rise continued in 1999; he continued to perform exceptionally well internationally, breaking Gorgio Lamberti’s long-standing record for 200m freestyle, and was chosen as ABC Sports Star of the Year and Young Australian of the Year. Thorpe was unsurprisingly one of the most successful and popular athletes at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, winning three golds and two silvers to become Australia’s leading medalist.

Having overcome some controversy over his decision to compete in a full-length Adidas swimsuit, as well as a disappointing defeat at the hands of Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200m freestyle, the ‘Thorpedo’ was permanently ingrained into the Australian psyche as one of the country’s all-time greatest sportsmen. He trounced the competition at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, winning six golds and one silver, and went on to perform well at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Thorpe then took some time out from competition, eventually retiring after an aborted return attempt in 2006.

An extremely popular public figure worldwide, particularly in Japan and America, Thorpe has signed a large number of lucrative sponsorship deals, and even hosted a reality TV show, the short-lived Undercover Angels. Now living in Los Angeles, he has recently expressed an interest in performing a mentoring role for the Australian team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.