Ian Thorpe has declared to the Aussie media that he wishes to lead a "happy and simple life" after his personal finances took a hit in the global financial crisis.
The most successful middle distance swimmer of the past decade, Thorpe had made a packet by the time he retired in 2006. He shed some lucrative sponsorship deals to focus on his university studies of late and some of his business ventures and investments suffered in the downturn.
Not that the 27-year-old is what you might call "struggling". Only this week, the Australian media reported that he has signed two sponsorship deals, including one for a cookbook. A report in the Hobart Mercury quotes a source who helped put Thorpe in touch with experts who "streamlined" his investments as saying that all is now well.
Thorpe recently completed his first year reading linguistics and psychology at Macquarie University. According to Australian reports, he will scale back his studies to part-time this year so he can devote more time to his business and charity interests.
