Australia's most decorated Olympian Ian Thorpe has revealed he's gay in an emotional television interview on Sunday, ending years of speculation about the champion swimmer's sexuality.
The five-times Olympic gold medallist made the admission to British journalist Michael Parkinson in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on Australia's Channel 10.
Struggling to hold tears back, Thorpe says he's thought about coming out for a long time, but he's only been comfortable the past two weeks even telling the closest people around him, though he wanted to come out for some time but just couldn't.
He says the lie had become so big that he didn't want people to question his integrity.
Thorpe has long denied he's gay and wrote in his 2012 autobiography 'This Is Me' that he was heterosexual.
