Speculation about his orientation started in 2000, hasn’t stopped since

Jul 14, 2014 07:36 GMT  ·  By
Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe finally addresses rumors about his orientation truthfully, admits he’s gay
   Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe finally addresses rumors about his orientation truthfully, admits he’s gay

Swimmer Ian Thorpe dominated the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia – and international headlines because of speculation on his orientation. All these years, he repeatedly denied he was gay but, last night, in an interview with Sir Michael Parkinson, he finally came out.

Word that the 90-minute chat would also include his coming out as gay got out in the press long before the interview aired on Network Ten. This is exactly what happened: Thorpe, also known as The Thorpedo because of his performance at the Olympic Games, explained why he had lied all these years and what he hoped to accomplish by coming out now.

An excerpt from the interview is also embedded below.

Sir Parkinson asked him directly if he was gay, even pointing to his 2012 autobiography “This Is Me,” in which he stated he was straight, attracted to women, and looking for the perfect one to start a family with.

A bit embarrassed, Thorpe answered with a denial: despite his past statements, he was not straight, he was gay. However, the reason he lied all those years was because he hadn’t accepted it himself until just a few weeks ago, The Guardian informs. He didn’t deliberately set out to deceive the world, he simply didn’t know the full truth either.

“I'm not straight and this is only something that very recently – we're talking in the past two weeks – I've been comfortable telling the closest people around me. 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,” Thorpe said.

“A part of me didn't know if Australia wanted its champion to be gay. I am telling not only Australia, I'm telling the world that I am and I hope this makes it easier for others now. I'm a little bit ashamed that I didn't come out earlier, that I didn't have the strength to do it, I didn't have the courage to do it, to break that lie. But everyone goes on their own path to do this,” the swimmer continued.

He still wants a family and many children, but now he knows for a fact that his partner will not be a woman. He also feels completely free to share that with the world.

In the interview, Thorpe also says that, though shocked, his family has been very supportive of him. He can say the same for his Australian supporters, and not only.

Right after the interview aired last night, Thorpe’s name started trending on social media, and kind words of praise and support began pouring in from all corners of the world.

It’s safe to say that whatever negative backlash he feared for coming out is not happening right now.