Ian Thorpe signs a contract with Swiss Swimming head coach, Gennadi Touretski
Australian comeback king, Ian Thorpe has finalised the deal with his former rival, Alexander Popov’s coach, Gennadi Touretski, to prepare him for the 2012 London Olympics. Touretski, who is currently providing his services at the Swiss Swimming, seems very
happy to nurture Thorpe’s future.
Thorpe will make his press conference in Switzerland tomorrow, along with his former coach, Leigh Nugent and his current coach, Touretski. Nugent, who is currently the Head Coach to Swimming Australia, has overviewed Thorpe’s initial training programme at
Abu Dhabi last month.
Thorpe is the former Olympic Champion for 200m and 400m freestyle and the former world record holder for the same events. The 28-year-old Thorpe announced his retirement due to a deteriorated performance and glandular illness in 2006. He has announced his
comeback to competitive swimming after four years in February, 2011.
The multi-Olympic champion is determined to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics for which he decided to make Abu Dhabi as his camp base. As a result of some of his decisions, Thorpe encountered some criticism but he claims to have everything right on track
and is very happy with his training in the pool.
Moreover, Thorpe was hiding his coach’s identity form the very beginning but now he has officially signed a deal with Touretski. Both of them have a remarkable history in the world of swimming. Thorpe won the 200m and 400m freestyle events at 2000 and 2004
Olympic Games while Touretski produced Alexander Popov, who won gold medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle at 1992 and 1996 Olympics.
Then, Popov was stabbed with a knife during a fight, which put a pause to his swimming career. He then returned in 2000 and won a silver medal in the 100m freestyle. Popov’s performance elevated in 2003, where he again won a gold medal in 50m and 100m freestyle
but in 2004, Popov’s way was blocked by Thorpe in the 100m freestyle. Thorpe is the only Australian swimmer to win gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m freestyle events at the same Olympic Games.
The year following Thorpe’s retirement, a French Newspaper revealed that a doping test was conducted six months before Thorpe’s retirement, which showed the presence of two substances banned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).
However, the swimmer and his federation, both were not informed about the doping results because he did not win any medals or showed an extra ordinary performance. FINA, the international sports governing body also concluded the Australian king has ‘no case
to answer’. Thorpe’s dope test report will come in the near future this year and after clearance, he will be allowed to resume competitive swimming from November, 2011.
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