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London Olympics boss Sebastian Coe wants a little bit of the party atmosphere from Sydney and a lot of the Ian Thorpe magic at his 2012 Games.
The Sydney Olympics remained the high-water mark against which all sporting events were measured and London was hoping to emulate or surpass the 2000 Games, Lord Coe told a post-budget breakfast at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday.
And he was delighted at the prospect of having Thorpe, one of the biggest stars from the Sydney Games, making his Olympic comeback in London.
“Ian Thorpe is arguably the greatest swimmer ever,” he said of the five-time gold medallist.
“His abilities and skills have inspired a generation of young swimmers in London.
“Ian Thorpe competing in the Games in London is a fantastic prospect.”
Lord Coe joked that there was a couple of million dollars earmarked in the federal budget for Thorpe’s return, hidden under funding for rare fish species.
But he claimed some credit for Thorpe’s return.
“I had the great pleasure of taking him around the Olympic park just a few months ago into the aquatic centre,” the 1500m Olympic track champion in 1980 and 1984 said.
“We walked onto the floor of the swimming pool and I sensed then that he was sort of looking at the facilities and looking at the aquatic centre and thinking maybe this isn’t one to sit out.”
Thorpe admitted as much when he announced his comeback earlier this year.
He said he changed his mind about retirement somewhere over the Atlantic on a flight from the US to England last year, and confirmed his feelings on that visit to London’s swimming venue.
“I could taste it,” he said.
“I hadn’t felt that way about swimming for a long time.”
Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates warned Lord Coe that Thorpe looked pretty fit at the royal wedding in April and that was great news for Australia’s medal hopes in London next year.
Coates said Australia was hoping to break back into the top five nations at the London Olympics, after finishing sixth in Beijing with 14 gold medals, two places behind Great Britain with 19 gold.
At both the Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 Games, Australia finished fourth on the medal table while Great Britain was 10th.
While clearly not anticipating such a low finish on the medal table for Great Britain, Lord Coe does want to emulate other moments from the Sydney Games in London.
“I will take the best from everywhere. But clearly I recognise from Sydney that it is the high water mark for a sporting event that other sporting events, no matter what sport or wherever in the world, is measured against,” he said.
“From Sydney I want the party atmosphere that was driven by athlete-led performance in the venues, and that permeated the city and I think the whole country.”