Swimming: Thorpe misses out on Olympic berth

ADELAIDE: Five-time Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe missed out on reaching the 200-metres (m) freestyle final at the Australian Olympic selection trials with a time well below his personal best. Thorpe finished 12th-fastest in the semi-finals in Adelaide in one minute and 49.91 seconds to miss out on a place in today’s final, when eight swimmers will compete for the two Australian places available at the London Olympics. Thorpe was well placed in second position in his semi-final at the halfway mark but dropped off in the final 50m and struggled home in fifth behind winner Ryan Napoleon, who clocked in a time of one minute and 47.51 seconds.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2012.