Editing Ian Thorpe (section)

===2002 Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships===
Thorpe began competition in 2002 at the Australian Championships in Brisbane in March, which were used to select the team for the [[2002 Commonwealth Games]] in Manchester and the [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships]]. After his record six gold medals in Fukuoka, the meet was surrounded by further expectations of world records and speculation that he would match [[Mark Spitz|Spitz]]'s seven gold medals.<ref name=s02>Swanton, pp. 121–122.</ref> His winning time in the 400&nbsp;m was the second fastest in history, but such was the expectation on him that his failure to break a world record was the talking point.<ref>Hunter, pp. 290–291.</ref> He claimed the 100&nbsp;m and 200&nbsp;m events in times outside his best, making it the first time that he had failed to break a world record at a major meet since 1999.<ref name="swiminfo 2002">{{cite news|first=Phillip|last=Whitten|title=2002 Year in Review|url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/2002_year_in_review.asp|work=Swimming World|date=30 December 2006|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154932/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/2002_year_in_review.asp|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also experimented by adding the 100&nbsp;m backstroke to his repertoire, placing second.<ref name=s02/> This earned him a Commonwealth spot in a seventh event, leading to further media speculation that he could match Spitz.<ref>Hunter, pp. 289–292.</ref>
{{MedalTableTop|name=no|header=[[Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games|2002 Commonwealth Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | 100 m freestyle | 48.73}}
{{MedalGold | 200 m freestyle | 1:44.71}}
{{MedalGold | [[Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]] | 3:40.08 (WR)}}
{{MedalGold | 4×100 m freestyle | 3:16.42}}
{{MedalGold | 4×200 m freestyle | 7:11.69}}
{{MedalGold | 4×100 m medley | 3:36.05}}
{{MedalSilver | 100 m backstroke | 55.38}}
{{MedalBottom}}
By this time, Thorpe's relationship with Frost was beginning to unravel. Thorpe had always insisted that his swimming was about enjoyment and improving himself in setting faster times, rather than victory or defeat. This contrasted with Frost, who had a more aggressive and combative mindset, often making bold public statements.<ref>Hunter, pp. 286, 290, 297.</ref> Thorpe ignored Frost's advice and bulked up his upper body by a further 5&nbsp;kg to 105&nbsp;kg, making him the heaviest elite swimmer in history.<ref>Swanton, p. 124.</ref> His reasoning that the strength gains would outweigh any loss in flexibility raised concerns over his physiological strategy.<ref>Talbot, pp. 228–229.</ref> On the first night in Manchester, Thorpe again lowered his [[Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 400 metre freestyle|400&nbsp;m mark]] by 0.09&nbsp;s to 3&nbsp;min 40.08&nbsp;s, which remains the fastest ever 400m swim not swum in an [[LZR Racer]]<ref name="abc career"/><ref name="swiminfo 2002"/><ref>Swanton, pp. 128–130.</ref> before anchoring the 4&nbsp;×&nbsp;100&nbsp;m freestyle relay team to another gold.<ref name="bbc cg2002">{{cite news|title=Thorpe's six of the best|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/commonwealthgames2002/hi/swimming/newsid_2166000/2166261.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=2 August 2006|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324003216/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/commonwealthgames2002/hi/swimming/newsid_2166000/2166261.stm|archive-date=24 March 2006|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=s132>Swanton, p. 132.</ref><ref>Hunter, p. 300.</ref> Prior to the 200&nbsp;m final, Thorpe was seen arguing with Frost in the warm-up area. Thorpe won, but was unusually angry at having failed to lower his previous best, publicly stating that he "wasn't with it" and that he had "one of the worst warm-ups ever".<ref name="bbc cg2002"/><ref name=s132/><ref name=h301>Hunter, p. 301.</ref> Thorpe did manage to lower his personal best in the 100&nbsp;m freestyle to 48.73&nbsp;s en route to his fourth gold, and anchored the 4&nbsp;×&nbsp;200&nbsp;m freestyle and 4&nbsp;×&nbsp;100&nbsp;m medley relays to comfortable victories.<ref name="bbc cg2002"/><ref name=h301/><ref>Swanton, pp. 132–133.</ref> When he collected a silver in his first international race in the 100&nbsp;m backstroke with another personal best behind world champion [[Matt Welsh]],<ref>Swanton, pp. 133–137.</ref> he was forced to rebuff media comparisons to Spitz. He emphasised personal performance, stating "I think it's a limiting attitude to be competing against other people when you can be challenging yourself".<ref name="self"/> Despite Thorpe's assertion that he could not match Spitz, Frost predicted that Thorpe could win nine golds at one Olympics.<ref name="self">Hunter, pp. 297–303.</ref> In spite of the media disappointment, Thorpe's six gold medals equalled the record set by [[Susie O'Neill]], completing all in [[List of Commonwealth Games records in swimming|Games]] or World record time.<ref name="abc career"/><ref name="ABC profile"/><ref name="swiminfo 2002"/><ref name="bbc cg2002"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Lenton Staring at Historical Haul|url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/10987.asp|work=Swimming World|date=8 March 2006|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154522/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/10987.asp|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=s137>Swanton p. 137.</ref> As a result, he was awarded the honour of carrying the flag at the closing ceremony.<ref name=s137/><ref>Hunter, pp. 302–303.</ref>
{{MedalTableTop|name=no|header=[[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|2002 Pan Pacific Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 100 metre freestyle|100 m freestyle]] | 48.84}}
{{MedalGold | [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]] | 1:44.75}}
{{MedalGold | [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]] | 3:45.28}}
{{MedalGold | [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay|4×100 m freestyle]] | 3:15.41}}
{{MedalGold | [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4×200 m freestyle]] | 7:09.00}}
{{MedalSilver | [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay|4×100 m medley]] | 3:34.84}}
{{MedalBottom}}
The Pan Pacific Championships followed in [[Yokohama]] less than a month later, with media speculation about Thorpe and Frost overshadowing the racing.<ref>Hunter, pp. 304–305.</ref> Thorpe began his campaign with a victory over Hackett in the [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle|400&nbsp;m freestyle]] in a time five seconds outside his world record. Afterwards, he revealed that both he and Hackett had deliberately conserved energy for the [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay|4&nbsp;×&nbsp;100&nbsp;m freestyle relay]] later in the night.<ref name=h306>Hunter, p. 306.</ref> Australia subsequently won the relay, with Thorpe again overtaking [[Jason Lezak]] in the last 50&nbsp;m.<ref name=h306/><ref>{{cite news|title=Thorpe does just enough|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2214725.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=24 August 2006|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116020224/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2214725.stm|archive-date=16 January 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> He subsequently won the [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 200 metre freestyle|200&nbsp;m freestyle]], and anchored the [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay|4&nbsp;×&nbsp;200&nbsp;m freestyle relay]] to victory to take his tally to four golds.<ref>{{cite news|title=Thorpe on target|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2217302.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=26 August 2006|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116045026/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2217302.stm|archive-date=16 January 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Hunter, p.&nbsp;307.</ref> After qualifying second in the [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 100 metre freestyle|100&nbsp;m freestyle]], Thorpe came from fourth at the 50&nbsp;m mark win his fifth gold in a time of 48.84&nbsp;s.<ref name="swiminfo 2002"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Thorpe bags fifth gold|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2221252.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=26 August 2006|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116020229/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2221252.stm|archive-date=16 January 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Hunter, p. 308">Hunter, p. 308.</ref> Thorpe's run ended in the [[2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay|4&nbsp;×&nbsp;100&nbsp;m medley relay]] final, when despite setting the second fastest ever relay split of 47.20&nbsp;s, Australia were defeated.<ref>{{cite news|title=US sets new world best|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2223324.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=29 August 2006|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116020234/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2223324.stm|archive-date=16 January 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Hunter, pp. 307–309.</ref>