Mumbai: Ian Thorpe would have never dazzled the pool and created a splash in the Sydney Olympics had he followed his father Ken’s advise to take up cricket. Ken a promising cricketer at junior level, represented a district team in Sydney. He once topped the season’s batting averages ahead of former Australian captain Bob Simpson. But he had to give up cricket due to parental pressure and wanted son Ian to cover all the hard yards on the cricket field.
“My birthday is good for Australian cricket. My father planned it like that for age group cricket. I was told to use my left hand only while batting, as they wanted me to be a traditional cricketer. But as young kid all you want is to hit those sixes over the fence. “I was Ok with it and played cricket in high school. But I wasn’t passionate about cricket as other things. As a young kid I used to watch my father play and it wasn’t a good experience to watch while fielding. I didn’t love the game like the rest of family,” said Thorpe who will be one of the elite panelists in the Star Sports for Rio Olympics coverage along with former ace shuttler Prakash Padukone, hockey Olympian Viren Rasquinha, former shooting champion Anjali Bhagwat and former swimming Olympian Rehan Poncha.
Out of his nine Olympic medals (5 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze), five gold alone came at the Sydney Olympics. Thorpe was the young Australian of the year in 2000. In addition, Thorpe won 11 World Championship titles, 10 Commonwealth Games gold medals, nine Pan Pacific titles and broke no less than 22 world records. Truly an amazing career, and all achieved before his 22nd birthday! But he unceremoniously retired in 2006. He announced a comeback five years later in time for the London Olympics but he couldn’t qualify and shoulder injury cut short his comeback.
