Ian Thorpe On Coming Out

Via the Guardian:

On Sunday night on Australian television Thorpe faced Sir Michael Parkinson to overturn what he said had become the "big lie" in his life. "What happened was, I felt that the lie had become so big that I didn't want people to question my integrity and a little bit of ego comes into this," Thorpe said in a 90-minute interview on the Ten network. "I didn't want people to think that I had lied about everything." Now 31, the swimmer said the words he had been avoiding: "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." His mother was shocked; his friends less so. But everyone had embraced him and he was relieved. When the interview goes to air in Australia, he said, I can finally "breathe out".

(Via Towleroad)

Olympian Ian Thorpe Comes Out

Via the Sydney Morning Herald:

After years of dismissing speculation about his sexuality, Ian Thorpe has revealed he is gay. Thorpe made the admission in a tell-all interview with Sir Michael Parkinson, News Corp reports. The interview, which will air on Sunday night on Channel Ten, has been described by Sir Michael as one he had wanted to do for a long time. “Ian Thorpe has always been near the top of my list to interview. The reasons are obvious. Not many athletes can claim to be the best of all time. Ian can."Before he retired for the first time at the age of 24, Thorpe broke 22 world records and won five gold and three silver medals and one bronze medal at the Olympic Games.

In his 2012 autobiography, Thorpe wrote, "For the record, I am not gay and all my sexual experiences have been straight. I'm attracted to women, I love children and aspire to have a family one day.  I know what it's like to grow up and be told what your sexuality is, then realising that it's not the full reality. I was accused of being gay before I knew who I was.''