Editing Ian Thorpe (section)

==Early international career (1997–1998)==
===International debut (1997)===
{{MedalTableTop|name=no|header=[[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1997 Pan Pacific Championships]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]] | 3:49.64}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4×200 m freestyle]] | 7:15.72}}
{{MedalBottom}}
In June 1997, two months before the [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|Pan Pacific Championships]], Thorpe required an [[vermiform appendix|appendix]] operation, which caused him to miss two weeks of training.<ref>Hunter, p. 83.</ref> Upon reaching Japan, Thorpe placed fourth in his heat of the [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 200 metre freestyle|200&nbsp;m freestyle]] with a new personal best time of 1&nbsp;min 51.46&nbsp;s.<ref name=h87>Hunter, p. 87.</ref> Thorpe's time was not enough to qualify for the final, but earned him selection in the [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4&nbsp;×&nbsp;200&nbsp;m freestyle relay]] team. Along with teammates [[Michael Klim]], [[Ian van der Wal]] and Hackett, Thorpe claimed silver, making him the youngest ever Pan Pacific medalist.<ref name=h87/> In his first individual final at international level, Thorpe was fifth at the 300&nbsp;m mark, but fought back to claim silver in the [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle|400&nbsp;m freestyle]] behind Hackett in a time of 3&nbsp;min 49.64&nbsp;s.<ref name="andrews"/><ref name="andrews h">Andrews, pp. 191–192.</ref><ref name=s19>Swanton, p. 19.</ref><ref name=h88>Hunter, p. 88.</ref> His finishing burst was to become a trademark, and his time would have been enough to win silver at the [[Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle|Atlanta Olympics]].<ref name="Hunter"/><ref name="smh early"/> In October 1997, a few days before his fifteenth birthday, Thorpe competed in qualifying trials in Brisbane for the [[1998 World Aquatics Championships]] in [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]]. Thorpe gained selection for the world championships by finishing fourth and second in the 200&nbsp;m and 400&nbsp;m freestyle respectively. He set new personal bests in both events.<ref>Hunter, pp. 91–92.</ref>

===1998 World Aquatics Championships===
{{MedalTableTop|name=no|header=[[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships|1998 World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]] | 3:46.29}}
{{MedalGold | [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4×200 m freestyle]] | 7:12.45}}
{{MedalBottom}}
Thorpe's first international appearance in his home country, at the [[1998 World Aquatics Championships|1998 World Championships]] in Perth, began with the [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4&nbsp;×&nbsp;200&nbsp;m freestyle relay]]. Swimming the third leg after Klim and Hackett, Thorpe broke away from [[Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre butterfly|200&nbsp;m butterfly Olympic champion]] [[Tom Malchow]] to set a split time of 1&nbsp;min 47.67&nbsp;s, just 0.26 seconds slower than Klim's winning time in the [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 metre freestyle|200&nbsp;m final]].<ref>Hunter, p. 98.</ref> By the end of Thorpe's leg, the Australians were two seconds ahead of the world record pace, and three seconds ahead of the Americans, having extended the lead by two body lengths. Although anchorman Kowalski finished outside the world record,<ref>Hunter, pp. 98–99.</ref> it was the first time that Australia had won the event at the global level since [[Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|1956]].<ref name="abc career"/> Thorpe was ranked fourth in the world before the [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle|400&nbsp;m final]], which Hackett led from the outset. Hackett established a comfortable 2.29&nbsp;s lead over Thorpe by the 300&nbsp;m mark, and although Thorpe reduced the margin to 1.53&nbsp;s at the 350&nbsp;m mark, Hackett led until Thorpe passed him on the final stroke.<ref>Hunter, pp. 100–101.</ref> Thorpe's time was the fourth fastest in history and made him the youngest ever male individual world champion, aged 15 years and 3 months.<ref name="andrews"/><ref name="andrews h"/><ref name=s19/><ref>Hunter, pp. 96–102.</ref>

As a result of the media attention generated by his win on home soil, Thorpe received multiple offers for television commercials and was often surrounded by autograph hunters.<ref name=s20>Swanton, p. 20.</ref> He became a high-profile supporter of the [[Children's Cancer Institute]], after his sister Christina's future brother-in-law Michael Williams became gravely ill with cancer.<ref>Hunter, pp. 95–102.</ref><ref>Swanton, pp. 42–49.</ref>

===1998 Commonwealth Games===
{{MedalTableTop|name=no|header=[[Swimming at the 1998 Commonwealth Games|1998 Commonwealth Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | 200 m freestyle | 1:46.70}}
{{MedalGold | 400 m freestyle | 3:44.35}}
{{MedalGold | 4×100 m freestyle | 3:17.83}}
{{MedalGold | 4×200 m freestyle | 7:11.86 (WR)}}
{{MedalBottom}}
Thorpe's next competition was in March at the Australian Championships in Melbourne, which were selection trials for the [[1998 Commonwealth Games]] in Malaysia. Thorpe's improvement continued when he defeated Klim in the 200&nbsp;m freestyle in 1&nbsp;min 47.24&nbsp;s, faster than Klim's winning time at the World Championship two months earlier.<ref>Hunter, p. 111.</ref> Thorpe's time was a [[List of Commonwealth records in swimming|Commonwealth record]]<ref>{{cite journal|first=Paul|last=Quinlan|title="Thorpedo" Ian Thorpe in record form|url=http://www.swimnews.com/Magazine/1998/maymag98/aussitrials.shtml|journal=Swim News Magazine|date=May 1998|access-date=14 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112337/http://www.swimnews.com/Magazine/1998/maymag98/aussitrials.shtml|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and with it, he secured his first national title. He then claimed the 400&nbsp;m freestyle title from Hackett and clocked 50.36&nbsp;s in the 100&nbsp;m freestyle. His time earned silver in his first 100&nbsp;m race at the national level, gaining him Commonwealth selection in three individual events.<ref>Hunter, pp. 110–113.</ref>

Thorpe's rise continued when the Australians arrived in [[Kuala Lumpur]] during September for the Commonwealth Games. Thorpe's first event was the 200&nbsp;m freestyle, where he led throughout to record a time just one hundredth of a second outside [[Giorgio Lamberti]]'s world record.<ref name=h122>Hunter, p. 122.</ref> He then combined with Klim, Kowalski and [[Matthew Dunn (swimmer)|Matt Dunn]] in the 4&nbsp;×&nbsp;200&nbsp;m freestyle relay to break the world record of the [[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]] set in [[Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|1992]] by 0.09&nbsp;s.<ref>{{cite news|title=1998 Commonwealth Games|url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/636.asp|work=[[Swimming World]]|date=25 September 1998|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153903/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/636.asp|archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Thorpe's run ended when a personal best of 50.21&nbsp;s in the 100&nbsp;m freestyle was only sufficient for fourth place, but he returned to victory with the 4&nbsp;×&nbsp;100&nbsp;m freestyle relay team.<ref name=h122/> He claimed a fourth gold in the 400&nbsp;m freestyle, setting another personal best, just 0.55&nbsp;s slower than Kieren Perkins' 1994 mark.<ref name="andrews"/><ref name="abc career"/><ref>{{cite news|title=1998 Commonwealth Games: Day 4|url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/637.asp|work=Swimming World|date=26 September 1998|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154846/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/637.asp|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Hunter, pp. 121–123.</ref><ref name="s21"/>

Thorpe left school at the end of the year after completing [[Year Ten|Year 10]]. His decision caused concerns that concentrating on swimming alone could lead to burn out.<ref name=small/> Thorpe disagreed, pointing to his informal search for knowledge, stating that "Swimming is a small part of my life".<ref name="small"/> His impact in the swimming community was acknowledged when he became the youngest male swimmer to be named as the [[List of Swimming World Swimmers of the Year|''Swimming World'' Swimmer of the Year]].<ref name="small">Hunter, pp. 130–133.</ref>