The world modified 22 years in the past when two planes hit the World Commerce Heart in New York, and of swimming’s all-time greats was nearly a sufferer of the assaults.
Ian Thorpe was within the metropolis on the morning of September 11, 2001, and was planning on being on the World Commerce Heart (WTC) when the primary aircraft hit.
The five-time Olympic champion went for an early morning run and was headed to the WTC’s commentary deck when he realized he had forgotten his digital camera. He returned to his lodge room to get it when the assaults occurred.
“I went down there on the morning of 9/11,” Thorpe mentioned, in keeping with Compete Community. “It was early within the morning and I went for a run. I grabbed a espresso and walked again to my lodge room, and actually in that time frame the planes hit. It was a really, very shut name.”
“I had a good friend, Michelle, who was staying with me,” he mentioned. “She was the one who was going to stand up and go for a run. I used to be telling her to wake me up as a result of we have been going to go to the World Commerce Heart collectively.
“I mentioned we may go up the World Commerce Heart within the morning and then you definitely do the Empire State Constructing at night time. However in the long run, I used to be the one which went down there. With issues like that, you understand it’s destiny. Some issues have been meant to be, and I understand I’m very fortunate.”
Thorpe, who was simply 18 on the time, was in NYC to pursue his pursuits in style and discuss his latest swimming success, together with making an look on The Jay Leno Present.
The now 40-year-old was lower than two months faraway from a standout efficiency on the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, the place he received six gold medals and set 4 world data within the males’s 200 free (1:44.06), 400 free (3:40.17), 800 free (7:39.16) and on Australia’s 800 free relay (7:04.66).
That got here on the heels of a memorable Olympic debut on dwelling soil in Sydney, the place he received gold within the males’s 400 free, anchored the Aussie males’s 400 free relay dwelling to victory in epic style, and earned a 3rd gold within the 800 free relay whereas including further silvers within the 200 free and 400 medley relay.
Following his brush with destiny in September 2001, Thorpe went on to seek out continued success within the sport, highlighted by his efficiency on the 2004 Olympics in Athens the place he received the Race of the Century within the males’s 200 free over defending champion Pieter van den Hoogenband and American phenom Michael Phelps, and he additionally defended his title within the 400 free with a good win over countryman Grant Hackett.
Thorpe, who additionally received silver within the 800 free relay and bronze within the 100 free on the 2004 Video games, claimed three extra World Championship titles in 2003 and set a world document of three:40.08 within the 400 free on the 2002 Commonwealth Video games, a mark solely eclipsed in 2009 by Germany’s Paul Biedermann (by .01) in a super-suit. Thorpe’s time stays the quickest in historical past in a textile go well with.
Thorpe finally retired in 2006 after withdrawing from the Commonwealth Video games because of bronchitis, and made a comeback try in 2011 along with his eye on the 2012 Olympics in London, although he fell shy on the Australian Olympic Trials.
He has continued to make a optimistic influence since retirement by being an advocate for same-sex marriage in Australia, and has been open about his struggles with despair, the issue he had navigating life as an elite athlete as a homosexual man, and in 2017, he introduced a two-part documentary to make clear the results of bullying.
In response to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the September 11 assaults left 2,977 lifeless throughout New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania.
