SWIMMING:BJORN BORG didn't, Andre Agassi did. Martina Hingis couldn't, Kim Clijsters could. Gavin Henson hasn't, Tiger Woods mightn't and Ian "The Thorpedo" Thorpe is expected to try.
Comebacks always wrench at something in the heart that shouts “don’t”. In a sporting landscape littered with names that should have known better, five-times Olympic swimming champion Thorpe is expected to announce his comeback at a press conference in Sydney today.
Thorpe’s manager Dave Flaskas has declared Thorpe has “never said never.” In sporting manager doublespeak that’s as sure as Thorpe’s predictable and imperious domination of the Sydney and Athens Games.
The swimming phenomenon’s likely return for a tilt at the London Olympics seems now the worst kept secret in the Southern Hemisphere.
Thorpe has been seen training at Andrew Boy Charlton pool on the edge of Sydney Harbour and even as far back as November 2006, when he announced the end of his swimming career, he deliberately refused to use the world “retirement.” Now 28 years old, he said back then he wasn’t going to “retire” but was going to “discontinue my professional swimming career,” a word-play that paves the way for an honourable return.
The youngest male swimmer ever to represent Australia and the youngest male world champion, at 14, has just 18 months to get back to world-class form if he is to add to his tally of nine Olympic medals, a collection that makes him Australia’s most-decorated Olympic athlete.
The most recognised face in the sport will also have to sign on to the international drug-testing register for nine months before becoming eligible for national selection, although that too is no obstruction as he has four months to lodge the forms before he reaches the deadline for the Australian Olympic trials. They are scheduled for March next year, while the London Games will take place from July 27th to August 12th.
Thorpe’s pedigree lends itself to the possibility he is more Grand Slam winner Clijsters than the-mind-is-willing-but-the-body-isn’t Borg. As the most talented swimmer in modern times even in the twilight years of what would be his second career, he just might be able to pull it out one more time and even anchor the Australian team that is struggling for an international character to bolster its drive towards London.
“I think it would be fantastic if he came back, just as a leader of the team,” former Olympic medallist Michael Klim told The Australian newspaper.
Thorpe specialised in freestyle but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. His five Olympic gold medals are the most won by any Australian, and at the 2001 World Championships he became the first person to win six gold medals in one Championship. He has won 11 World Championship golds, the second-highest number of any swimmer, and nine Olympic medals. Thorpe is the first person to have been named Swimming World Swimmer of the Year four times.
The head coach and captain of Germany’s swimming team accused him of cheating in 2001, asserting his ability to pulverise records were drug-fuelled. In 2007, French sports newspaper L’Équipe claimed Thorpe had showed “abnormal levels” of two banned substances. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) subsequently dismissed the result after an investigation and FINA closed the case.
A sharp dresser, an ambassador for clothing house Armani, Thorpe’s return would cause a ripple across the sport. He has already attempted one failed return.
But couldn’t, wouldn’t, hasn’t, and can’t just doesn’t seem to fit a modern day phenomenon.
Ian Thorpe
Born: October 13th, 1982, Milperra, western Sydney, Australia
Height: 195 cm (6ft 5in)
Shoe Size: 17. Armspan: 195 cm
Achievements: Five Olympic gold medals (Sydney 2000 – 400m freestyle, 4×100m freestyle, 4×200m freestyle; Athens 2004 – 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle), three silvers and one bronze.
Won 11 world titles and set 13 long-course world records and 23 overall.
