Ian Thorpe Gay: Olympic Swimmer Opens Up About Coming Out, 'The Thorpedo' Reveals 'I'm Not Straight' [Watch Video]

After years of denying the truth to family, friends, and the media, Olympic Swimmer, Ian Thorpe reveals in a tell-all interview that he is gay. The Australian gold medalist finally ends years of speculation about his supposed sexuality.

In his illustrious career, the decorated athlete has won five Olympic gold medals, three silvers, and one bronze. After winning so many awards, it's no wonder fans have nicknamed him, "The Thorpedo." Towards his retirement in 2012, the sports champion accomplished 22 world records.

For years, the swimming champ took great lengths to hide his sexuality. Even in his 2012 autobiography, This Is Me, the gold medalist contradicts himself, "For the record, I am not gay and all of my sexual experiences have been straight. I'm attracted to women, I love children, and aspire to have a family one day."

Now a different tune plays out during a revealing interview with British talk show host Michael Parkinson. During the Q&A session, the interviewer flat out asks about his sexual orientation. Since he was sixteen, the conflicted teen struggled with self-identity issues and peer pressure about his homosexuality.

Thorpe opens up being gay and states, "I'm not straight. And this is only something that very recently, we're talking in the past two weeks, I've been comfortable telling the closest people around me exactly that."

Check out a snippet of the interview here:

The Parkinson Interview, with Ian Thorpe, premieres on TEN Network Australia July. Readers, what do you think about Thorpe coming out of the closet?