Thorpe Goes Bobsleding
Here's an article about Ian going bobsleding. Apparently, Michael didn't show?!
Ian Thorpe traded in his signature black bodysuit for a grey-and-red lycra snowsuit yesterday and charged down an ice track in a bobsleigh at more than 140km/h at St Moritz in Switzerland.
The 22-year-old, five-times Olympic gold medallist admitted his affinity with the water did not stretch to ice as he strapped on a crash helmet with fellow swimming great Alex Popov to compete in a celebrity event as part of the Bobsleigh World Cup.
Thorpe confessed to being a "tiny bit nervous" as he sat in the sleigh awaiting the start.
But afterwards he said the experience was "amazing".
"You start off and you think you are going to slow down, but it just gets faster and faster," he said.
Thorpe was one of a group of international swimmers - including American superstar Michael Phelps, Popov and Dutch Olympic diva Inge de Bruijn - invited to the event by their sponsor, watchmaker Omega.
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Phelps was a no-show in the end. He stayed at home in the US after pleading illness.
The others emerged from the ride unscathed, with the aid of an experienced pilot and brakeman in the sleigh.
Later, Thorpe presented a watch to his childhood hero Popov at a formal dinner to mark the retirement of the great Russian sprinter. Prince Albert of Monaco was among the guests.
Thorpe is so enamoured of winter sports that he has taken skiing lessons and had to be talked out of plunging head-first down the ice track on a one-man "skeleton" toboggan.
"He's talking about having a year off and preparing for the Winter Olympics in Torino (in February next year), but I think his ambition is outweighing his ability," Thorpe's manager, David Flaskas, said.
Thorpe has yet to announce if he will contest this year's world swimming championships in July.
He is back in training but is considering a year out to replenish himself for next year's Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the 2007 world titles and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
His current world tour suggests he is most likely to sit this year out.
From Switzerland, Thorpe will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, where he has been invited to see Sunday's Super Bowl game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots.
Then it will be back to more familiar surroundings at the Sutherland pool in Sydney.
*Taken from http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12099026-401,00.html
Ian Thorpe traded in his signature black bodysuit for a grey-and-red lycra snowsuit yesterday and charged down an ice track in a bobsleigh at more than 140km/h at St Moritz in Switzerland.
The 22-year-old, five-times Olympic gold medallist admitted his affinity with the water did not stretch to ice as he strapped on a crash helmet with fellow swimming great Alex Popov to compete in a celebrity event as part of the Bobsleigh World Cup.
Thorpe confessed to being a "tiny bit nervous" as he sat in the sleigh awaiting the start.
But afterwards he said the experience was "amazing".
"You start off and you think you are going to slow down, but it just gets faster and faster," he said.
Thorpe was one of a group of international swimmers - including American superstar Michael Phelps, Popov and Dutch Olympic diva Inge de Bruijn - invited to the event by their sponsor, watchmaker Omega.
Advertisement:
Phelps was a no-show in the end. He stayed at home in the US after pleading illness.
The others emerged from the ride unscathed, with the aid of an experienced pilot and brakeman in the sleigh.
Later, Thorpe presented a watch to his childhood hero Popov at a formal dinner to mark the retirement of the great Russian sprinter. Prince Albert of Monaco was among the guests.
Thorpe is so enamoured of winter sports that he has taken skiing lessons and had to be talked out of plunging head-first down the ice track on a one-man "skeleton" toboggan.
"He's talking about having a year off and preparing for the Winter Olympics in Torino (in February next year), but I think his ambition is outweighing his ability," Thorpe's manager, David Flaskas, said.
Thorpe has yet to announce if he will contest this year's world swimming championships in July.
He is back in training but is considering a year out to replenish himself for next year's Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the 2007 world titles and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
His current world tour suggests he is most likely to sit this year out.
From Switzerland, Thorpe will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, where he has been invited to see Sunday's Super Bowl game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots.
Then it will be back to more familiar surroundings at the Sutherland pool in Sydney.
*Taken from http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12099026-401,00.html