Once labelled as "the greatest swimmer the world has seen" by former Australian head coach Don Talbot, Ian Thorpe is Australia's most successful Olympian of all time.

Thorpe began to make heads turn at the New South Wales Championships in January 1997 when he became the first 14-year-old on Australian soil to swim 400m in under four minutes. He went on to win bronze at the Australian Championships over the same distance, setting a new personal best of 3min 53.44seconds - a world record for his age group. And his meteoric rise saw him become the youngest male to be selected for the Australian team, aged 14 years and five months - bettering John Konrads' record by a month.

Thorpe had numerous battles with fellow Australian Grant Hackett throughout his career and he got the better of his long-time rival at his first international appearance in his home country, at the 1998 World Championships. Hackett led the 400m final from the outset and stretched his lead to nearly two-and-a-half seconds by the 300m mark, before Thorpe came roaring back to pip him on the final stroke - making him the youngest male individual world champion.

After claiming four gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and at the Pan Pacific Championships the following year, all eyes were on Thorpe at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. With Sydney's Daily Telegraph dedicating a front-page spread to Thorpe, headlined 'Invincible', he couldn't disappoint, and he didn't, bagging three gold and two silver medals to finish the Olympics as the Games' most successful athlete.

Thorpe's ascent to the top of his sport was complete when he backed up his Olympic achievements with a spectacular showing at the 2001 World Championships. Six gold medals were hung around his neck, three from individual events - where he set new world records in all, the 800m, 400m and 200m freestyle - and three from relays.

Leading up to the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, many were tipping Thorpe to match Mark Spitz's seven gold medals, achieved at the 1972 summer Olympics. He came mightily close, notching up six gold medals before finishing second behind world champion Matt Welsh in his first international race in the 100m backstroke. Afterwards, Thorpe shrugged off comparisons to Spitz, saying, "I think it's a limiting attitude to be competing against other people when you can be challenging yourself".

There was controversy in the build up to the 2004 Olympics, with Thorpe overbalancing on the blocks during the heats of the 400m freestyle at the Australian Championships. He fell into the water and was subsequently disqualified for causing a false start, leaving him unable to defend his Olympic crown. However, one of the automatic qualifiers, Craig Stevens, later gave up his position and Thorpe went on to beat Hackett, retaining his title by the narrowest of margins. He added a gold in the 200m freestyle and went on to claim further silver and bronze medals in the 4x200m freestyle relay and 100m freestyle respectively.

Thorpe took a break from swimming after the Athens Olympics but returned to the sport in 2006, qualifying for the Commonwealth Games. However, he contracted glandular fever and was forced to withdraw from the event, later announcing his retirement on November 21, 2006, citing a lack of motivation.

In February 2011, the five-time Olympic champion confirmed he would be coming out of retirement in a bid to compete at the 2012 London Olympics.

Career high
Becoming Australia's greatest Olympian, winning five golds, three silvers and one bronze.

Career low
In 2000, German head coach Manfred Thiesmann accused Thorpe of using steroids - claims which the swimmer vehemently denied. Thorpe responded to the accusations by trimming more than 1.5s from his world short course record in the 200m freestyle, in Germany.

Quotes
"I have had an almost flawless career, and I put that at risk. It would have been a lot easier to sit on that and not do a thing. But there are still things in swimming that I haven't done, that I would like to achieve. It's a balancing act where fear and motivation come in - it's a great place to be on that edge." Ian Thorpe

"I welcome Ian back to the sport. His presence will only increase the interest and enthusiasm for swimming and we look forward to seeing him back on deck soon. He is one of the true greats and it will be fun to have him back in the mix for London." Michael Phelps

Trivia
Thorpe, who has size 17 feet, had an allergy to chlorine as a young child and, until he overcame the problem, was forced to swim with his head out of the water.