The manager of Olympic swimming great Ian Thorpe said the five-time gold medallist is in rehab after being found disoriented on a Sydney street early Monday morning by police responding to a call from residents.
James Erskine told the Australian Associated Press that Thorpe was affected by a combination of antidepressants and the painkillers he was taking for a shoulder injury.
Police spoke to Thorpe after residents near his parents’ home in Panania in Sydney’s southwest reported a man allegedly breaking into a van. He was taken to Sydney’s Bankstown Hospital for assessment and was later transferred to a rehab facility.
“He is in rehab for depression,” AAP quoted Erskine as saying.
Erskine said Thorpe had thought he was sitting in his friend’s car.
“The owner of the car basically called the police and the police came,” he said. “They realised it was Ian Thorpe. They realised he was disoriented.”
“He hadn’t had a drink,” he said. “He had zero alcohol in him.”
Police said no official complaint has been made and no further police action is anticipated.
Thorpe, who is currently living in Switzerland, has been staying with his parents over Christmas.
Erskine’s admission that Thorpe is in rehab comes only days after Thorpe’s management company denied reports he checked into a rehab facility while battling depression and alcohol abuse.
