(Paddington, 1982) Australian swimmer. Ian Thorpe was born on October 13, 1982 in Paddington, Sydney, the Australian city where he lives, the son of gardener Ken Thorpe and science teacher Margerate. He has an older sister, Christina, who is also a professional swimmer and who started her brother in this sport when he was seven years old, when he practiced other sports, especially cricket, the favorite of his father, who now he has been glad that he was not forced to continue down this path. He is 1.95 meters tall and weighs about 91 kilos in his ideal state.
Ian Thorpe Net Worth
sports are rugby union and swimming. Thorpe opted for the latter due to his family influence, but above all because of his anatomy and the innate power that he had treasured since he was a child. Trained by the prestigious coach Doug Frost, from the Aquadot club, his purpose was to emulate another recent Australian champion, Michael Klim, five years his senior, although his idol par excellence was another compatriot, Kieren Perkins, Olympic champion in Atlanta ’96 from 1,500 meters, the test that he has set as a challenge.
After winning the 400-meter freestyle and 50-meter freestyle events at the State Championship, at the age of fourteen he became the youngest swimmer in the senior Australian national team, under whose banner he participated in the Pan Pacific Championship that year in 1997. from Fukuola (Japan), where he won the silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle. At the age of fifteen, he already gave his first surprise: he won the 400-meter freestyle title at the World Cup in Perth ’98, beating the seasoned champions of the time, and he won another gold medal as a member of the 200-meter relay 4 free. With it he became the youngest swimmer to win an individual world title.
In 1999 he already became the “wonder boy” par excellence. Three days apart, at the Pan-Pacific Championship, held in Sydney, he broke the 400-meter world record several times, setting it in 3 minutes 41.83 seconds (the previous record had been held for five years by Perkins, in 3 minutes). 43.80 seconds), and the 200 meter sprint, which he set at 1 minute 46.00 seconds, two seconds less than the one held by fellow Australian Grant Kackett.
That year, when he was only sixteen years old, was exceptional, since he also contributed to lowering the records of 4 per 100 meters, defeating the all-powerful American team, and 4 per 200 meters. This feat catapulted him internationally, to become the favorite for the Olympic Games the following year, despite the fact that he broke an ankle in November.
To prepare for the Games, at the beginning of January 2000 he returned to the world circuit in the short course (25 meters). He won five consecutive wins in the 200 and 400 freestyle in Hobart, and in Sydney he broke his 200m record again, with 1 minute 42.54 seconds. Already in Europe, in Berlin, during the World Cup, he left the record in 1 minute 41.10 seconds. This concatenation of successes moved the Australian coach, Don Talbot, who went so far as to declare: “He is the best talent I have ever seen. When he wants to leave, he is like a Ferrari. He can become the greatest swimmer of all time ».
Most connoisseurs agree in highlighting his technique in his strokes (he advances about three meters per stroke), the strength of his upper body and the power of his legs, favored by the large size of his feet, which act as fins ( He wears a 54, a number less than the Spanish basketball player Roberto Dueñas, who measures 2.20 meters). To this must be added his great ability to concentrate and a mental strength that provokes the admiration of his adversaries: “He is a teenager with the head of an octogenarian,” said Don Talbot.
In May 2000, during the selection trials for Sydney, he set a new record in the 200-meter freestyle, was also first in the 200 and 400-meter medley, and fourth in the 100-meter medley.
And the big date came. On September 16, he “opened” the Games with a spectacular victory in the 400-meter freestyle, with a mark of 3 minutes 40.59 seconds, which was a new world record and the first Australian medal.
Later he would contribute to Australia’s victory in the 4 by 100 freestyle relay. He was thrown, until in the 200-meter freestyle test, in which he had not met an opponent since the beginning of 1999, the Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband demystified the local idol. The level of this final was extraordinary. Thorpe and the Dutchman were on par for most of the event, but in the last few strokes Van den Hoogenband overtook the Australian, who was silver.
On September 19, he culminated his performance with victory in the 4 by 200-meter freestyle relay. The Australian team (including Michael Klim, Todd Pearson and William Kirby), led by Thorpe, took more than five seconds from the hitherto invincible American team. Thorpe opened fire with a first slug that left the United States 10 meters away. In the end, a new world record: 7 minutes 07.05 seconds.
Aware that his life is going to change radically in the economic aspect (since 1999 he has been sponsored by Sydney Water, Adidas, Mazda and Channel 7, among other firms), on October 1, after having been the flag bearer of the Australian delegation at the closing ceremony, he publicly called on his compatriots to donate golden Australian dollars to children in need. One dollar for every medal the country won at the Games. Thorpe thus joined the “Gold for Gold” campaign, sponsored by other champions, such as the legendary long-distance runner Hailé Gebreselassie and the British rower Matthew Pinsent.
He lives in Milperra, a neighborhood in Sydney where, with the almost five hundred million pesetas he earned in 1999 (an amount that skyrocketed starting in Sydney 2000), he has bought a new house so that his parents can continue living with him. There he wants to take refuge to give free rein to his love for video consoles and television sitcoms, and to flee from the press, because what bothers him most is his sudden fame. After his Olympic success, he may try to continue his studies at the Higher Technical School for Boys, a center he left in 1999 to prepare for Sydney 2000. He was always at the top of the class, so his mother, a teacher at the center, wants him to continue. .
He also saves some of his time to participate in television series, which he is passionate about. In 1999 he already appeared in the Home and away series , in which he represented himself, and after his success at the Olympic Games, his manager, Dave Flaskas, indicated that he had been selected to participate as a special guest in the American series Friends , his favourite, which a private television broadcasts in Spain. His compatriot, the top model Elle Macpherson, who has already participated in the series, promised to be his godmother and give him good advice, while the couturier Giorgio Armani would become his godfather, his guru in his entry into the Manhattan jet set, In New York. Young kid, rich kid.
In July 2001 Ian Thorpe confirmed his dominance in the World Swimming Championships, held in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, by winning six gold medals: in 200, 400 and 800 freestyle meters, in 4 by 100 and 4 by 200 freestyle meters. and in 4 by 100 meters styles.