Thorpe Says He Expects to Fail in Olympic Bid Five-time gold medalist Ian Thorpe expects to fail in his attempt to make the Australian Olympic team for London 2012, saying he may have made his return to competitive swimming too late. With the Australian trials a week away, Thorpe told Australia's Network Ten that he doesn't have high expectations of making the team after modest results in lead-up events. The 29-year-old Thorpe said, "the most realistic outcome of this is that I will most likely fail ... I wish I had another six months to do this. Thorpe retired in November 2006 after setting 13 world records and winning 11 world championships gold medals. He announced a comeback nearly a year ago.