Illness forces Thorpe to skip C'wealth

Sydney The absence of the ‘Thorpedo’ will be a major blow for organisers already struggling to sell tickets for the Common Wealth Games, one of the major sports event.

The event features 71 nations, mostly former British colonies, and is about one-third the size of the Summer Olympics.

23-year-old Australian swimming champion, Ian Thorpe pulled out of this month's Commonwealth Games due to illness today, leaving the Melbourne event without one of its primary participants.

The five-time Olympic gold medallist said he was frustrated at not being able to perform in front of his home crowd.

Thorpe added that the lingering effects of a bout of bronchitis and a viral infection had left him drained and unable to compete.

"It's very disappointing that I can't be part of the team competing in Melbourne," a pale and raspy-voiced Thorpe told reporters.

"It was difficult coming to terms with not being able to compete but it was, in the end, it was the only decision I could come to," Thorpe also added.

Thorpe, who has already won a record-equalling 10 Commonwealth gold medals is one of the few globally recognised athletes among the 4,500 contestants who will take part in the Games this month.

His clash with South Africans Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling in the 100m was one of the most anticipated races of the Games.

Thorpe swam competitively for the first time since Athens in January during the Commonwealth trials but his performance was not one the best with which he is synonymous.

However, Thorpe said he would travel to Melbourne to support Australia's Commonwealth Games team and then rest to recover completely from his illness

He will be replaced in the Australian swim squad by Craig Stevens, who in 2004 gave up his 400m position in the Olympic squad for Thorpe.

Thorpe has hinted that he will retire after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, meaning he may never again compete at the Commonwealth level.

Thorpe had won four gold medals in the 1998 Commonwealth in Kuala Lumpur and six in the 2002 Commonwealth in Manchester.

He has also won 11 world titles, including six in 2001 in Japan where he set world records at 200m, 400m and 800m, along his five Olympic golds, nine Pan Pacific titles and 18 national titles.

He has also broken 13 long course world records.

Thorpe's pullout comes after South African swimming coach Dean Price suggested he was faking illness ahead of the Games.

"I'll believe it when I see Thorpe in the stands watching his own races," Price told Sydney's Daily Telegraph Newspaper.