4 Feb 2014

Thorpe being treated for depression

5:58 am on 4 February 2014

The manager of the Australian swimming star Ian Thorpe has confirmed the former swimmer is being treated for depression at a rehabilitation clinic in Sydney.

Ian Thorpe.

Ian Thorpe. Photo: AFP (file)

James Erskine said the five time Olympic gold medallist was admitted on Monday afternoon after being found disoriented in a street in south Sydney.

He said Thorpe had taken painkillers for a shoulder operation he had last week and also had antidepressants in his system.

Residents rang police after Thorpe tried to get into a car that he thought belonged to a friend.

The ABC reports an ambulance was called and Thorpe was taken to Bankstown hospital.

"There was no alcohol involved, he hadn't been drinking or anything like that," Mr Erskine said.

Thorpe made his Games debut as a teenager in Sydney in 2000, retired in 2006. He staged a comeback early in 2011 but failed to make the Australian team for London.

He had been living in Switzerland for 18 months, but returned to Sydney to spend the Christmas period with his family at his parents' home.

In an autobiography last year, he said he had struggled with alcohol abuse and depression.