IAN Thorpe has hit back at allegations he is fat and unfit by promising to race to new peaks of glory in the pool at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.Thorpe, 23, has also defended his Los Angeles lifestyle and denied that gossip about him being gay is getting him down.
But the five-times Olympic champion, one of the best swimmers of the modern era, says he is alarmed by the relentless paparazzi.
He claims media scrutiny makes him think about retirement every day.
Thorpe, who says a desire for privacy drove him out of Australia, was stung to defend his weight by a report he lived on pizza, hamburgers and soft drinks.
He continues to train 40 hours a week, he says, and enjoys the tough regime.
Thorpe also says he will be fit and firing for the world swimming championships in Melbourne next year.
Responding to criticism of him in a Sydney newspaper, Thorpe said his only fast food indulgence was a weekly protein burger. Otherwise he stuck to a training diet.
CONFIRMS he is not bothered by rumours that he is gay.
HIS SEXUALITY
FOR many years, questions have been raised that Ian Thorpe is gay. Those accusations have stopped worrying him.
"People can think whatever they want to think and people will tell you black and blue that I am gay," he says. "There is no basis for what they are saying. It's no big deal because that doesn't affect any part of my life.
"I don't care what people are saying in that regard because it doesn't mean when I get in my car I worry about what's going to happen today or am I being followed. It's not embarrassing."
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