Ian Thorpe AM

Ian Thorpe AM's Biography

ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S GREATEST OLYMPIANS

Ian Thorpe is without doubt, one of the most successful sportspeople Australia has ever produced. Ian’s accomplishments are nothing short of amazing.

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.

He won Nine Olympic medals including 5 gold medals during his swimming career, with only Emma McKeon recently surpassing him with 11 Olympic medals, the most won by any Australian.

Ian’s most famous wins 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.

Ian was awarded an AM for his significant service to youth and Indigenous education, and

Swimming. He’s the winner of the Australian Sports Medal, Young Australian of the Year in 2000 and Four time World Swimmer of the Year.

Ian’s received the Human Rights Medal in 2012 for his work fighting for better services for

Indigenous children in remote communities and he’s been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Western Sydney University and Macquarie University.

He’s hosted one the world’s largest Olympic Games broadcasts for Star Sports India at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and provided his expert commentary for Seven Network at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Australian Swim Trials, FINA World Championships, and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Ian hosted the critically acclaimed ABC documentary series ‘Bullied’ which resulted in the ABC’s biggest ever social media event.

Ian’s currently the Ambassador for Australian Marriage Equality, Invictus Games Sydney and AIME, Patron and Board Member for frontline youth mental health service, ReachOut and has advisory roles with Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

As a keynote speaker, Ian can draw on his experiences with international competitive swimming to explore high performance, goal-setting and overcoming adversity. He is also a proud advocate for mental health and the LGBTQIA+ community.