After being snapped by paparazzi on holiday with his fit friend, Aussie Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe has again responded to intense rumours about his sexuality, telling newspapers "I'm not gay."
He and his Brazilian buddy - and his housemate for the past three years - Daniel Mendes were photographed on the beach in Brazil, where Thorpe was spending Christmas with Mendes' family.
Thorpe's manager David Flaskas says the pair met through Thorpe's former coach while he was training for the 2008 Olympics. They became training buddies, but Flaskas insists that's all there is to it.
Thorpe confirms this in a new interview with the Daily Telegraph, printed yesterday. "I am still friends with many of the people I competed and trained with during my swimming career," he explains. "Daniel is one such good friend whom I have known for many years.
"I have only commented on this issue at this time because I draw a line when innuendo implicates people like my family and my friends.
"I find this kind of inaccurate speculation tiresome and I am annoyed by the hurt it has caused those closest to me."
