BEIJING (AP) — Five-time Olympic gold medalist Ian Thorpe failed for a second day to reach a final, adding to his comeback woes at a World Cup short course event.
The Australian finished the 100-meter butterfly in 54.35 seconds on Wednesday, good for only 13th place and more than 2 seconds behind Japan’s Kosuke Hagano, the top qualifier with a time of 52.13.
On Tuesday, Thorpe failed to qualify in the 100 freestyle and the 100 individual medley.
The 29-year-old Thorpe came out of more than five years of retirement earlier this year in a bid to represent Australia at next year’s London Olympics. As well as Olympic gold, Thorpe won 11 world titles and set 13 individual world records.
