Olympic Champion, "Thorpedo": "Turkey is the meeting point of cultures"
Istanbul; 8 July 2013: Five-time Olympic gold medallist Ian ‘The Thorpedo’ Thorpe has backed Istanbul 2020’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games on two continents simultaneously for the first time in history, after participating in the Cross-Continental Bosphorus Swim – a race that starts in Asia and finishes in Europe.
Sunday’s Bosphorus Swim was the 25th edition of the race, and Olympic legend Thorpe was joined by more than 1,500 swimmers in 11 different age categories for the 6.5km course. Since 68 people competed in 1989, the popularity of the event has boomed. This year’s registration closed one week early after nearly 2,300 applications from 54 different countries. Ian Thorpe’s participation follows fellow swimming icon Mark Spitz’s appearance at last year’s event. In addition to the swimming events, there were also rowing and canoeing races for men and women.
Speaking in Istanbul, Thorpe said:
"Turkey is the meeting point of cultures. That’s the country’s greatest advantage in the 2020 bid. No Olympic Games has ever been held in this region. The 2020 Olympic Games should come to Turkey. Hosting the Games here will have significant long-term benefits for the Olympic Movement. The Olympic Games is an extraordinary experience. I believe it would be great for the Games to come to this region, and I am sharing this belief with everyone."
As in previous years, the event was sponsored by Samsung.
Professor Uğur Erdener, President of the Turkish National Olympic Committee, said:
"It is really encouraging to see so many people getting excited about this event. Throughout Turkey, we are seeing a big increase in participation in sports that were not previously considered mainstream, swimming being a prime example. It shows that our commitment to bringing new sporting events to Turkey over the last ten years, like the FINA World Championships and IAAF World Indoor Championships, is paying dividends. Preparing for and hosting the Games in 2020 would help accelerate this process and ensure more Turkish people are playing more sports more often."
Hasan Arat, Istanbul 2020 Chairman, added:
"I am delighted that an Olympian like Ian Thorpe has spoken so positively about Istanbul and our bid. He knows exactly how an Olympic Games can transform the lives of the host nation’s young people. He was only 17 at Sydney 2000 when he won three gold medals, and he inspired millions of people in his own country and across the world. Istanbul 2020 will provide similar moments of inspirational Games history for the 31 million young people in Turkey and hundreds of millions more in the region and across the Olympic Movement."
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