Ian THORPE

At just 16, Ian earned his first gold medal in the 400m freestyle at the World Championships in Perth, earning the title of the youngest world champion in men’s swimming.

During his extraordinary Olympic debut, he won 3 gold medals and 2 silver medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, in addition to setting 4 new world records.

At the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, he achieved an unprecedented sweep, winning 6 world titles and becoming the second swimmer, after Shaw, to succeed in the 200m-400m-800m hat-trick.

He established himself as Olympic champion of the 400m freestyle at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games, then went on to win the gold medal in the 200m, establishing a new record and overtaking Phelps, Hackett and Van den Hoogenband in what has been named swimming’s “Race of the Century.”