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At 24, Thorpe retires from swimming

At the young age of 24, after competing in only two Olympic Games, Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe announced his immediate retirement from competitive swimming on Monday. The five-time Olympic champion set 13 world records between 1999 and 2002 and dominated the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He has not competed in a major international event since the Athens Olympics and has suffered from illness, a broken hand and a lack of motivation. The heavy media attention in Australia has sent him to train in California.

Thorpe has won 5 Olympic gold medals, the last in Athens in the 200 and 400 meter freestyle events, and won 11 world titles. Since his professional career started at the age of 14, Thorpe has broken 22 world records. The tremendous success has left him lacking motivation to continue swimming competitively. "I`ve reached all the dizzying heights of this sport," he said.

Training in Los Angeles, Thorpe was back in shape and the swimming world was guessing whether he would participate in the upcoming Australian Championships, the World Championships next March or even the Beijing Olympic games in 2008.