Ian Thorpe offered full support of Australian Institute of Sports for his comeback
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has offered Ian Thorpe any help he might need in his return to competitive swimming. The institute has publicly stated that its doors are open for the five-time Olympic gold-medallist. Thorpe gave his acclaimed performances during the 2004 Olympics in the 200m and 400m freestyle races. According to Peter Fricker, director for AIS, "We've already offered support to Swimming Australia that if Ian Thorpe wants to come down here and spend any time down here at all for some testing, profiling, looking at technique, perhaps room for improvement in some of the technical aspects of his swimming, we'd be happy to provide that service for nothing.”
The 28-year-old swimmer, who retired from the swimming world in 2006, has not been seen in the pool since then. If Thorpe expects to be competitive with the likes of Michael Phelps in the 2012 Olympics then he needs to bring his best to the pool. Phelps has won 14 gold medals and is being considered one of the greatest threats to Thorpe. Phelps has proven himself to be a dominant force in swimming today and the younger swimmer might just be too much for Thorpe to handle.
Some sources have confirmed that Thorpe intends to train and live in Abu Dhabi. Fricker has called these statements as hoaxes and believes that the former champion will be coming back to Canberra. He avoided commenting further on revival of Thorpe.
Fricker further elaborated on Thorpe’s Canberra stay, "Ian is still working out where he's going to be and where he's going to put it all together." He is also quoted as saying that our doors are still open to him and he is welcome to come back any time. The AIS head was very clear that Thorpe’s return to the institute is unconditional. Whatever he decides, will be reflecting his best choice for his stay.
Thorpe is expected to do well at the AIS for a short time but Abu Dhabi seems suitable for his airline sponsor, Virgin Blue. Thorpe seems to be interested in any location outside Australia because of the key reason that at home, he will never be able to get out of his past success and failures, making it hard for him to train himself to the utmost level before appearing into the London Olympics 2012. He also expects the media and reporters to follow his every step. This can make keeping his progress and failures hard to keep under wraps. His biggest asset at this point is his past success and the element of surprise. It is expected that he will guard both of these with fervour.
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