Should Thorpe Retire?

[Jono]

Man, retiring at 24. Unbelievable. At 24 most people now-a-days haven't even began their primary career.

 

[Craig]

Mind you he has been swimming professionally at 14 or 15.

Besides he would have two, maybe three more years left.

 

[archie mac]

he should retire, he has nothing else to prove, he was at the top of the sport for 8 years thats more than most people can say. Most people will say 24 is too young to retire but when you consider what hes been through hes entitled to do whatever he wants...

He has something to prove, I won't consider him the best Aussie swimmer until he wins three Gold medals at three Games. To my mind Dawn Fraser is still No. 1.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Haha.... He might be one of those guys that's totally camp but straight, though - I have known a few. Used to enjoy him on that Charlie's Angels show with Jackie O: "Hiiiiiiii Angels."

Anyhow, good luck to Thorpey, he's just about done everything. He's probably pretty financially comfortable with his endorsements etc, and given the fuss the media makes when he eats a freakin' pizza, I can see why he's probably had enough of it all.

Hahaha...he could be but I'd put some serious money on him being totally camp and being, well, gay. I wonder what the story is behind the media smokescreen when Thorpey is spotted out with a 'new woman'!? Are they the only ones who can't work it out?

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Hahaha...he could be but I'd put some serious money on him being totally camp and being, well, gay. I wonder what the story is behind the media smokescreen when Thorpey is spotted out with a 'new woman'!? Are they the only ones who can't work it out?

Should it matter?

 

[Smudge]

He has something to prove, I won't consider him the best Aussie swimmer until he wins three Gold medals at three Games. To my mind Dawn Fraser is still No. 1.

I can picture the story now:

Thorpe reverses retirement to silence internet critics.
December 3, 2006

By Love Davis VIII


Australian swimming superstar Ian Thorpe has shocked the swimming world by returning to the pool just two weeks after he announced his retirement.
And his reasons are sure to have internet message board contributors buzzing.
Thorpe announced his retirement from competitive swimming with a swag of Olympic, Commonwealth and world championship medals, but has put his goggles and bodysuit back on after a poster on a cricket forum refused to put him at the top of his Australian swimming list of stars.
The poster, "Archie Mac", claimed Thorpe had "something to prove", and he would not rate Thorpe as number one until the 24-year-old won gold medals at three Olympic games.
"Like, I was crushed when, like, I read about this, totally, like, harsh assessment of my career," Thorpe said while eating a comfort pizza.
"Dawn Fraser's, like, such an awesome lady, but I feel my record, you know, just, like, speaks for itself?"
Thorpe's decision to begin his gruelling training schedule just to shut an internet poster up has sparked great interest among other retired sporting stars.
Former Swedish tennis tyro Bjorn Borg is contemplating a return to the court to meet world number one Roger Federer after a poster named "Stringfellow" on tennistalk.com claimed Borg couldn't beat Federer, even if the Swiss star was forced to play on his knees, with a Nike sweatband over his eyes.
West Indian all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers has also been seen putting in long hours at the nets after Cricketweb poster marc71178 claimed Ajit Agarkar was "10 times the player Sobers ever was" during a discussion about who would become the next Rikki Clarke.
Attempts to discover whether Ayrton Senna was planning to hop back into a Formula One car were unsuccessful.

 

[age_master]

I dont like Thorpe much at all, so arrogant, and unpatriotic for mine, definately someone for me who swam for himself and didn't really take on the honor that it should be to represent your country seriously for mine.

 

[Matt79]

A lot of people in this thread are talking out their backside IMO. Thorpe is an absolute champion and an extremely classy performer. He seems like a decent person and in all honestly, having comprehensively proven he's the best in the world over almost a decade, he's just too intelligent to want to spend the rest of his life going up and down looking at a black line at the bottom of a pool. I really like Hackett as well, but I don't see why it has to be a choice between the two. Hackett gets plenty of kudos. However, in anything other than the 1500m I'd much rather watch Thorpe swim than Hackett.

I don't know where the arrogant stuff comes from tbh. He's a supremely confident athelete, in the same way a Federer, Woods or Jordan are/were, but he's always been respectful of his competitors.

 

[Mister Wright]

A lot of people in this thread are talking out their backside IMO. Thorpe is an absolute champion and an extremely classy performer. He seems like a decent person and in all honestly, having comprehensively proven he's the best in the world over almost a decade, he's just too intelligent to want to spend the rest of his life going up and down looking at a black line at the bottom of a pool. I really like Hackett as well, but I don't see why it has to be a choice between the two. Hackett gets plenty of kudos. However, in anything other than the 1500m I'd much rather watch Thorpe swim than Hackett.

I don't know where the arrogant stuff comes from tbh. He's a supremely confident athelete, in the same way a Federer, Woods or Jordan are/were, but he's always been respectful of his competitors.

It's just a case of Tall-Poppy syndrome, which we are all guilty of from time to time. Australia loves their underdogs.