Ian Thorpe's journey from highs in the pool to depths of despair

Sydney Ian Thorpes lightning speed in the pool won him fame and glory but the former teenage swim star could not outstrip the crippling depression which has stalked him for much of his lifeIan Thorpe after a race during the 2011 FINA World Cup PicGetty ImagesThe exploits of the precociously talented Thorpedo dominated swimming at the turn of the millennium as Thorpe headlined his home Olympics in Sydney and inspired a young Michael PhelpsThorpe became Australias most decorated Olympian with five gold medals at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games and he was the first person to win six gold medals at one world championships in 2001In total aided by his abnormally large feet and hands Thorpe accrued nine Olympic medals and 11 world titles and set 13 longcourse world records in one of the great swimming careersBut after his early retirement aged just 24 citing burnout the natural introvert has struggled to carve out a new life dabbling in jewellery design and television along with a number of university coursesFollowing a failed comeback attempt ahead of the 2012 London Olympics Thorpe revealed a long battle with crippling depression which prompted him to drink heavily at times during his career and even to ponder suicideI even considered specific places or a specific way to kill myself but then always baulked realising how ridiculous it was Could I have killed myself he wrote in his 2012 autobiography This is Me The AutobiographyThorpe suffered a further setback when his bid to make the Australian team for this years Commonwealth Games and potentially the 2016 Olympics was derailed by a shoulder injuryOn Tuesday his manager James Erskine revealed that the 31yearold had entered rehab for depression after a mixture of painkillers and antidepressants left him dazed and disoriented at 300 am on a Sydney streetSwimming prodigyIan James Thorpe was born in Sydney on October 13 1982 and outgrew an early chlorine allergy to become the greatest swimmer of his timeAfter 1998 he dominated the 400m freestyle winning the event at every Olympic World Commonwealth and Pan Pacific championship until taking a post2004 breakThorpe took three gold medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympics winning the 200m freestyle by three bodylengths in a world record and anchoring Australias 4x100m freestyle relay victory an event in which the United States had never been beatenThe next year Thorpe had a chilling brush with death when he was on his way to the observation deck at New Yorks World Trade Center on the morning of the 911 attacks He turned back because he had forgotten his cameraHe won three golds at the 2003 Barcelona world championships but fell off his starting block at the 400m freestyle Olympic trials ruling him out of the event for the 2004 Athens GamesBut his close friend Craig Stevens who finished second in the 400m trials then stepped aside to make it possible for Thorpe to successfully defend his Olympic 400m crown in Athens later that yearIn the race of the century Thorpe overhauled Dutch star Pieter van den Hoogenband to win the 200m gold in a new Olympic recordBut the rigours of competition were taking their toll and after Athens Thorpe took 17 months off skipping the 2005 world championships before glandular fever kept him out of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth GamesSensational exitDespite reports that Thorpe was struggling for motivation his retirement on November 21 2006 caused a sensation as swimmings biggest star quit at the height of his career Thorpe later explained how his success had made him feel like a performing seal and left him longing to reclaim his lifeI realised how much enjoyment everyone else got out of my swimming friends family coaches the public Australians go nuts when you win gold medals he told the Sydney Morning Herald in2012 It made people happy but it made me miserableThorpe launched an attempted comeback in early 2011 more than four years after his retirement but he was well off the pace in Australias selection trials the following yearHis current problems come after injury curtailed another bid to return to competition The Australian newspaper said he is in financial difficulties without giving details Thorpe has also dismissed speculation about his sexuality For the record I am not gay he wrote in his autobiography