Olympic great Ian Thorpe has addressed his love life and his battle with depression in a wide-ranging interview.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist recently appeared on ABC iView’s The Assembly and answered questions from a group of autistic journalism students.
One asked him if he is currently dating anyone at the moment and Thorpe jokingly replied: ‘You can’t ask that, c’mon… everyone sounds super-curious.’
‘It is hard to date in the public eye because you may have to answer questions about it,’ he added, before giving a curious reason for keeping his romantic life under wraps.
‘I’m not going to say if I’m dating or not, because I don’t know when this goes to air.’
The 43-year-old is arguably Australia’s greatest ever swimmer and burst onto the scene by winning a world title in the 400m freestyle at just 15.
Ian Thorpe (pictured) has addressed his love life and a battle with depression as he was quizzed on a wide range of topics
Thorpe appeared on the ABC’s The Assembly and answered questions from a group of autistic journalism students
Despite becoming a household name, Thorpe always tried to avoid the limelight as a self-described introvert.
After being asked about his sexuality since he was in his mid-teens, Thorpe came out as gay in a televised interview with British journalist Sir Michael Parkinson in July 2014.
He was only 16 when he was first asked by a reporter if he was gay and after 15 years of denying it, he came out and said it wasn’t a tough experience.
‘It wasn’t terribly difficult to have people accept me as gay,’ Thorpe said.
Thorpe also said that people couldn’t see his pain and relate to what he called a ‘sometimes-daily struggle’ with depression.
‘There’s a sense of guilt that you have that, “My life should be good, but I don’t feel that way”,’ Thorpe said.
‘And so, you feel that you can’t live an authentic or sincere life. I was and I am someone with depression.
‘I realised it when I was in my teens [that] there’s something that’s not quite right. I’m not experiencing happiness and joy in a way that it should be.’
Thorpe gave a curious reason for refusing to answer a question about whether he’s currently dating anyone
Thorpe won three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics as he stamped himself as possibly the greatest Aussie swimmer ever
Thorpe said he is in a good ‘mental space’ at the moment but admitted his mood fluctuates from time to time.
‘As we talk about mental health a lot more, it becomes part of a vernacular of what people are going through,’ he said.
‘Those conversations come a lot easier and people have an understanding.’
Thorpe’s feats in the pool captured the imagination of Australia, particularly at the 2000 Sydney Olympics where he won three gold medals and was upset by Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200m freestyle.
The result stunned the nation.
‘Everyone just expected me to win, so [there was] a lot of pressure,’ he said.
‘About one-third of my life was in the spotlight, if not more. I had already had a career as most people are starting.’
It’s been 15 years since the ‘Thorpedo’ quit swimming and he said he had to make ‘a significant adjustment’ after no longer being a professional athlete.
‘There’s a significant adjustment that athletes need to make post-sporting career,’ he said.
‘Mine was trying to get a better understanding of how I could fit in when most of the things that I’d been able to accomplish made me stand out.
‘I don’t need to be the athlete I was before,’ he said. ‘But I still want to feel strong, healthy and capable.’
