Olympic legend Ian Thorpe reveals heartbreaking regret about coming out as gay
Ian Thorpe has shared the heartbreaking reason he didn’t want to come out as gay during the height of his swimming career.
The Olympian, 41, who came out in 2014, told the The Daily Telegraph Tuesday that he hid his sexuality because he didn’t want a “distraction” from his sports career in the early 2000s.
‘I had to swim the Olympics and had to win. I didn’t want anything to be a distraction for me. “I don’t want people talking about this,” he said.
“So every time it’s hinted that you might be gay, you take it as something negative and as a young person you make it bigger than it needs to be. So I answered no.”
Thorpe said at the time that he regretted hiding his sexuality for so long because it made the process of coming out much more confrontational.
Ian Thorpe, 41, (pictured) has shared the heartbreaking reason he didn’t want to come out as gay during the height of his swimming career.
‘I’m comfortable saying I’m a gay man. And I don’t want people to feel the same way I did. You can grow up, you can be comfortable and you can be gay.”
The five-time Olympic gold medalist came out as gay during an interview with respected English television presenter Sir Michael Parkinson in July 2014.
The athlete later revealed during a 2022 episode of This Is Your Life that he decided to speak out about his sexuality because he finally felt “comfortable.”
The Olympian, who came out in 2014, revealed to The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday that he hid his sexuality because he didn’t want a “distraction” from his sporting career in the early 2000s. (Pictured in 2000)
‘I used to do this interview with Sir Michael Parkinson. I had just come out to my family and my very best friends,” Ian told host Melissa Doyle.
‘I had spent some time with Sir Michael Parkinson before the interview and said to him, “You have to ask me if I’m gay because I’m going to tell you I am.”
Ian continued: “I had to say it. It was the first time I felt comfortable enough to put myself out there. It was important for me to be my authentic self.”
The athlete stated at the time: ‘I have thought about this for a long time. I’m not straight. And this is only something that lately, in the last two weeks, I’ve been able to tell the people closest to me with great ease.”
The Sydney native was first asked about his sexuality at the age of 16 and said he didn’t know it at the time but “was still gay at the end of the day.”
“Yes, I lied about it. I now feel confident in saying that I am homosexual.’
He also said he wished he had come out sooner because his family and friends supported him.
The five-time Olympic gold medalist came out as gay during an interview with respected English television presenter Sir Michael Parkinson (left) in July 2014