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Olympic Swimming Champ Ian Thorpe Comes Out

Olympic Swimming Champ Ian Thorpe Comes Out

Ian Thorpe Swimmer Australia Marriage Equality

After years of speculation that he is gay, Thorpe confirms it in an interview to be broadcast on Australian TV Sunday night.

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Olympic champion swimmer Ian Thorpe has confirmed he is gay, in an interview that will be broadcast on Australian television Sunday night.

There has been speculation about Thorpe's sexuality for years, and in his 2012 autobiography, This Is Me, he denied being gay and called the rumors hurtful. But now the Aussie athlete is coming out in an interview on Sir Michael Parkinson's program on Australia's Channel Ten, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"Ian Thorpe has always been near the top of my list to interview," Parkinson said, according to the Herald. "The reasons are obvious. Not many athletes can claim to be the best of all time. Ian can."

Also, Australia's Telegraph quoted Parkinson as saying, "I think his sexuality is no one's business but his own. But I think it's one of the best interviews I have ever done in terms of [Thorpe] talking about depression and things like that."

Thorpe, now 31, won five gold medals, three silver, and one bronze over the course of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. He has also broken 22 world records. But he has struggled with depression and substance abuse, and he recently completed a stay in a rehabilitation facility.

Out Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham, a fellow Austalian, expressed support for Thorpe and said he hope the public would do so as well, the Telegraph reports. "I can totally understand how difficult this whole process has been for him," Mitcham said. "I really hope this process gives him some peace and that the media and the public give him the same respect and the same overwhelming support I received in 2008. The Australian public and media have a really wonderful opportunity to set an example for kids who are in Ian's position."

Watch a teaser for the interview below.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.