Intro:

Five-time Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe admitted to suffering from depression and expressed frustration over persistent rumours that he is gay, in an interview on Tuesday on ABC's 7.30 Report in Sydney, Australia.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Thorpe, Five-time Olympic champion:

"When I was quite young. I was probably in my mid-teens when I realised that something wasn't quite right. And at that time I didn't know that it was depression, and it wasn't until a little bit later that I went to seek some help because I knew that there was something not quite right about me at that stage. And I really didn't have the words to be able to put around how I was feeling... and I think a lot of young people struggle with that. They struggle with 'what is this that I'm feeling? I know it's just not quite right."'

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Thorpe, Five-time Olympic champion:

"There's been times where I felt very much alone. And you're kind of scrolling through your phone and realising, you may have hundreds of numbers but you don't call anyone. And you know, that's the scary thing about it, you know, all the things that would make you feel better, you don't do them. So now, I make sure that I do do those things."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Thorpe, Five-time Olympic champion:

"Yeah look, the thing that I find hurtful about it is that people are questioning my integrity and what I say. That's the only part that I find hurtful... that this is something that I would be embarrassed about or that I would hide, or whatever else. I think, you know, and I try to explain it because I don't know either, but I think it's because I don't fit into the typical stereotype of what Australian athletes have been in the past. You know the performances in the pool, we can relate to them as sport. But you know, I guess I behave differently, I like different things too."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Thorpe, Five-time Olympic champion:

"You know... I'm a nerd. I am just someone that happened to be good at sport as well. You know, I educated myself by reading books on planes, you know, travelling around the world. I like beautiful things in the world, I like the aesthetic of those things. This is what I like."