Ian Thorpe, Australia’s most decorated Olympian, has checked into rehabilitation for depression after a mixture of painkillers and anti-depressants left him disoriented on a Sydney street.
His manager James Erskine insisted no alcohol was involved, as the swimmer’s father suggested he faced months of treatment but would “come out the other side”.
A “dazed” Thorpe, 31, was discovered by police attempting to get into a car near his parents’ house in the early hours of Monday and was taken to hospital for assessment.
It was his second recent visit to hospital, after falling and needing shoulder surgery last week.
Erskine told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the five-time Olympic gold medallist was now receiving treatment for depression, a condition he has struggled with for years.
“He’d been taking prescribed drugs, painkillers for his shoulder and he’s also on prescription drugs for anti-depression ... but it’s obviously a mixture of it, and that mixture made him disorientated,” he said.
Thorpe’s father, Ken, told the Sydney Daily Telegraph he was optimistic his son would pull through.
“He is battling with his health issues at the moment and he is having a tough time,” he said.
“But hopefully in six months’ time he will be out the other side.”
The Swimming Australia president John Bertrand said the organisation would do all it could to support Thorpe.
“He has a very serious illness and we will endeavour to give all the support we can, through his friends, through his peers,” he said.
Thorpe won five gold medals at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games. He became the first person to win six gold medals at one world championships, in 2001, among 11 world titles overall – along with 10 Commonwealth Games gold medals.
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4.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m.
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Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
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Favorite food: seafood
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5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions; Dh90,000; 2,200m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap; Dh70,000; 1,400m
6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden; Dh80,000; 1,600m
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Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
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5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: Eghel De Pine, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Sheaar, Szczepan Mazur, Saeed Al Shamsi
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA) Group 3 Dh500,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Torch, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,600m | Winner: Forjatt, Chris Hayes, Nicholas Bachalard
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,400m | Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Ridha ben Attia
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Qader, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roaulle
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
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5.30pm: Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
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Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
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