Japan Olympics 2021: Ian Thorpe on the starting blocks for Channel 7 for the Olympic Games in Tokyo
As he prepares to join the commentary box at the Tokyo Olympics, Ian Thorpe has dropped some insight that’s sure to excite swim fans.
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Australia’s most successful Olympian of all-time, Ian Thorpe, will join the Seven Network’s commentary team for the Olympic Games in Tokyo this July.
The five-times Olympic gold medallist confirmed today he will be on the starting blocks for the delayed Games.
After stints for the BBC calling the London Olympics in 2012 and then working for Indian broadcaster Star Sports for Rio’s 2016 Games, Thorpie will finally be calling the Olympics for an Aussie audience.
“To be honest the feeling I get from commentating, the adrenaline, is the closest feeling I have ever felt that is like competing,” the 38-year-old said.
“It’s the same pressure of having to be able to perform, it really gets my energy levels up and that pressure just makes you perform better.
“And I really can’t wait.
“I am curious about the impact of COVID and lockdown on swimmers. I would have loved the delay … for me it would have been a breather from training before re-setting.
“Being able to do more blocks of training would have worked for me but some swimmers will struggle with the delay.
“I think the delay will favour the younger athletes because for the older swimmers, the ones hanging on for another Games, it’s another year of wear and tear.”
Thorpe has produced some of the most memorable moments in Australian sporting history, including individual victories in the 200m (Athens) and 400m freestyle (Sydney and Athens), and the final leg in the 4x100m freestyle relay in Sydney.
That was the race that the Americans were meant to smash the Aussies “like guitars”.
But Thorpe said armchair fans should ready themselves for what he expects to be the race of Games – an epic showdown between Aussie Ariarne Titmus and American Katie Ledecky.
“Katie Ledecky is the best female swimmer we have ever seen, and one of the top three swimmers the world has ever seen.
“Their 400m freestyle showdown is already giving me goosebumps. Ariarne can actually take Ledecky on … it’s the Olympic champion verses the underdog, and it’s going to be great.”
Though reluctant to predict a medal haul because of the pressure it may put on the Aussie swim team, Thorpe did have a tip for the Australian public.
“For the first time, Australia has followed the US model and our trials in June are just six weeks out from the Games – usually they are months out,” Thorpe said.
“The Americans are usually very good at stepping up from their trials and performing at the Games – I am so keen to see how this impacts on our swimmers,
“I think this really helps the sprinters … and swimming in Australia has changed from being middle distance/distance – it’s now about the sprinters.”
Seven’s commentary team for the Games also includes fellow Olympic gold medallists Anna Meares, Nick Green, Giaan Rooney and Kerri Pottharst.
Seven’s Head of Sport Lewis Martin, said: “As Australian sporting icons go, Ian sits up in
the stratosphere alongside our very best … no one is better qualified to take viewers inside all the action in the pool at Tokyo.”
The Olympics run from July 23 through to August 8 and will be shown on Seven and 7plus.
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Originally published as Japan Olympics 2021: Ian Thorpe on the starting blocks for Channel 7 for the Olympic Games in Tokyo
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