Swimming legend Ian Thorpe’s house robbed

Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe has been the victim of a major theft.

Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe has been the victim of a break-in at his eastern suburbs home with a number of valuables stolen, his manager has confirmed.

The winner of five Olympic gold medals was seen at Paddington Police Station on Thursday where he reported being a victim of crime.

The news was first reported by 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Friday.

“We believe he’s in the red to the tune of $150,000,” Fordham said. “There are no details about what’s allegedly happened to Ian Thorpe. We don’t know if he’s been robbed online or in person.”

Ian Thorpe went to police to report the theft on Thursday. Picture: Gary Ramage

Fordham said Thorpe’s manager was initially unaware but when he spoke to his client, Thorpe told him he went to police “to talk about an insurance job”.

NSW Police confirmed that at “about 4pm on Thursday 5 June 2025, a 42-year-old man attended Paddington Police Station to report an alleged theft incident”.

“Officers attached to Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command have commenced an investigation into the incident,” police said.

“There is no further information available at this time.”

Thorpe’s manager, James Erskine, later phoned into Fordham’s show to confirm Thorpe had been the victim of a break-in with valuables including jewellery and watches stolen. No Olympic medals were taken.

“He has had some things stolen from his house — watches, jewellery, some personal items,” he said. “He called up his insurers, they said go and make a police report.”

Mr Erskine said Thorpe had told him there was no obvious sign of a break-in.

“I have no idea what the value is to be honest,” he said.

Thorpe has been contacted for comment.

It’s not the first time the swimming great has been robbed.

In 2005, thieves broke into Thorpe’s luxury Audi TT coupe while it was parked in the inner-west suburb of Glebe, stealing a swimming bag that contained a treasured Omega watch featuring the Olympic emblem that had been presented to him at the previous year’s Games.

“We walked around the corner and saw the window had been smashed,” his then-manager Dave Flaskas told AAP at the time.

“Obviously it was distressing.”

Police said the swimming bag had been discovered a short distance away minus the watch and a small amount of cash.

Thorpe moved into a $2.8 million Edgecliff apartment in late 2023 after listing his three-level Woollahra townhouse for sale.

Ian Thorpe at the Australian Olympic trials in Sydney, May 2000. Picture: Supplied

The 42-year-old was the most successful athlete at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, winning three gold and two silver medals.

He won another two golds and a silver at Athens in 2004, before retiring from the sport in 2006.

He came out as gay in a 2014 interview with British TV presenter Michael Parkinson after years of denying his sexuality publicly, saying he hoped it would make it easier for others.

Thorpe was a prominent voice the 2017 Yes campaign and was in a long-term relationship with Australian model and entrepreneur Ryan Channing from 2015 to 2019.

Channing died in Bali in 2022 at age 32 from a reported prescription medication overdose.

“I think when it is someone that is so young, it is tragic for anyone to see them passing at that kind of age,” Thorpe told The Daily Telegraph at the time.

Since leaving professional swimming, Thorpe has emerged as a philanthropist and passionate environmentalist.

He has also continued his career in broadcast, becoming a swimming TV commentary star and appearing on reality shows including Celebrity MasterChef and Celebrity Amazing Race.

He was spotted in a wheelchair last year on his way to the Australian Olympic Trials in Brisbane, after sustaining a serious injury while filming Celebrity Amazing Race.

Originally published as Swimming legend Ian Thorpe’s house robbed