Ian Thorpe
Australia's Greatest Olympian
Profile
Ian Thorpe is without doubt, one of the most successful sportspeople Australia has ever produced. Ian’s accomplishments are nothing short of amazing. He won Nine Olympic gold medals during his swimming career, the most won by any Australian and a record that cements his place in history as Australia’s greatest Olympian to date.
Current work
He is one of the founders of Beon Performance working with Australian cricket star, Shane Watson and internationally renowned performance improvement coach Dr, Jacques Dallaire. He works with executive teams and some of the largest companies in the world to enhance their mindset and optimise performance.
Ian is an activist, advocate and mentor . In 2012, he was awarded the Human Rights Medal and In 2019 he was awarded an AM for his significant service youth and indigenous education. He is currently an ambassador for AIME, Australian Marriage Equality, the 2016 & 2018 Invictus Games, and is also Patron of the charity ReachOut, an online mental health resource.
He recently Hosted the critically acclaimed ABC Documentary series ‘Bullied’, sparking conversation around the country and resulting in ANC’s biggest ever social media event.
Previous experience
Swimming: Over his highly-successful swimming career, Ian won 11 World Championship titles, claimed 10 Commonwealth Games medals, broke 22 World Records and was the first person in history to win six gold medals in one World Championship.
Ian’s most famous wins however, came at the Sydney 2000 Olympics where he won three gold medals and two silvers, making him the most successful athlete at the Games. The gold in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay in which the American’s lost for the first time at Olympic level will forever be remembered as one of the greatest victories in Australian sporting history and was a defining moment of the Games. He later went on to win another two gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and shortly thereafter made the decision to retire from the pool.
Media: Ian currently works with networks to provide commentary for swimming events, this includes Network 7’s coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games and appearing on Fox Sports Australia for their 2016 coverage of the Rio Olympics.
Awards: Ian’s achievements both in and out of the pool have been recognised around the world. He was awarded the title of World Swimmer of the Year on four separate occasions, named Australian Swimmer of the Year from 1999 to 2003, and in 2000, his philanthropic efforts earned him further recognition as the Young Australian of the Year. He has also received honorary doctorates from Western Sydney University and Macquarie University.
