Ian Thorpe gets his Olympic report card
Ian Thorpe has proven he doesn’t need to be in the pool at the Olympics to be a star.
Twenty-one years after first winning gold at the Sydney Olympic Games, Thorpe has given his expert commentary for Channel 7 during the Tokyo games – and fans are absolutely loving it.
From winning gold medals to predicting the future, Ian Thorpe has proved he can do it all at the Olympics.
Twenty-one years after first winning gold at the Sydney Games, Thorpedo is playing a starring role in Tokyo – but in a very different capacity.
The Australian swimming legend is giving his expert analysis for Channel 7.
Thorpe always believed Titmus was going to bring it home late. Image: Supplied.
Through the swimming legend’s insight, he predicted what Katie Ledecky’s final time would be and got within a second of the stopwatch.
Thorpe went at it again during Aussie superstar Ariarne Titmus’ second blockbuster showdown of the Games with Ledecky in the 200m freestyle final on Tuesday.
“I think Ariarne has Ledecky covered in this race,” Thorpe said.
“She can transition a lot better into different speeds. So she’ll build up her speed, whereas Katie Ledecky seems to get stuck in one gear.
“She has a consistency that comes with that speed, but she can’t increase it in any way — it doesn’t develop.
“Whereas when you saw Ariarne come over the top of Ledecky in the 400m freestyle final, she was gradually increasing that speed and there was a 0.4 second difference in their last 50m.”
Thorpe was right again, proving his expertise is on point.
Ledecky went hard and Titmus was trailing the whole way up until the final lap.
The 20-year-old from Tasmania eventually overtook her biggest rival in the final 25m to win gold medal No. 2.
Thorpe took time to point out Titmus’ turning ability, and said she was accelerating into the wall and springing off of it better than Ledecky was.
The Aussie finally took the lead for the first time at the final turn.
His fellow Channel 7 commentator Leisel Jones, who has competed in four Olympics, praised Thorpe when Japan’s Ohashi Yui won the 200m women’s individual medley.
“I’m going to say Thorpey called that before we started,” Jones said during Seven’s broadcast.
“He said, ‘Watch for Ohashi Yui to go for the double’.”
“After seeing that 400 IM, this was the clear frontrunner in this race,” Thorpe said when explaining why he tipped Ohashi to win again.
Aussie watchers have praised the Olympic swimmer for his brilliant commentary, with one saying: “He is amazing, I love listening to him.
Another wrote: “Ian Thorpe owns commentary. He regularly calls the winner 50m out.”
Love @IanThorpe commentary for the swimming.
— Eric (@bananman1234) July 29, 2021
A third person added: “How wonderful Ian Thorpe’s commentary. He is so informative, speaks so calmly.”
https://twitter.com/lynettekc/status/1420566887612616704?s=21
Image: Neal Simpson/EMPICS via Getty Images