Ian Thorpe Pulls Out Of Commonwealth Games

Australian swimming star Ian Thorpe has pulled out of the Commonwealth Games after failing to recover from bronchitis and a chest infection.

"It's very frustrating, it's very disappointing," said the 23-year-old, who has not competed at international level since the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Thorpe won four gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealths in Kuala Lumpur then a record six at Manchester in 2002.

He planned to compete in five events at the 2006 Games, which begin next week.

The disciplines included the 100m and 200m freestyle and three relays.

Thorpe has been suffering from his illness for the past month but was unable to take any drugs that could have cleared up the problem because the medication is on the banned list.

"It was difficult coming to the decision to not compete," added the swimmer. "But it wouldn't have been a good performance by me if I did compete. I would have been of little, if any, benefit to the team. I would have done more damage than good if I had competed."

Craig Stevens will replace Thorpe in the Australia swimming team, which was already without long-distance specialist Grant Hackett.