‘Hard to imagine’: Ian Thorpe’s unexpected windfall – realestate.com.au

The sold sticker is on Olympic swimming legend Ian Thorpe’s Edgecliff apartment and is well above the $2.8 million price guide.

The stylish three-bedroom apartment in the Harry Seidler-designed Arlington block in Edgecliff Rd was due to go under the hammer next Thursday, via Jordan L’Estrange and Warren Ginsberg of Ray White Double Bay.

No word from them on the price achieved prior to the auction, but other sources estimate the result at “nearly $3 million.”

Thorpey, who put the apartment on the market on November 7, had bought it for $2.79 million in July 2023.

So if the result was just under $3 million, he had a modest profit of about 7 percent.

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It offers 164m² of living space.

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That’s marginally better than many condo owners in the suburb, with PropTrack estimating the current average condo price for Edgecliff at $1,385,000 — that’s 5.8 percent more than when “Thorpedo,” who celebrated his 43rd birthday with friends on Lord Howe Island in October, made his purchase.

But that doesn’t include the $136,000 in stamp duty he would have paid.

He recently reflected on his career in his most recent Instagram post.

“It’s hard for me to think back and realize that the Sydney Olympics were 25 years ago,” he said in a video for GQ magazine.

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Ian Thorpe at the Australia Open tennis earlier this year. Photo: Tennis Australia

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“It feels like it wasn’t quite yesterday, but it feels like it was in more recent memory than 25 years later.”

He described lighting the cauldron with another legend, former runner Cathy Freeman, as “incredible” and the next night he achieved his “childhood dream of becoming an Olympic champion”.

On the home front, it is unclear where Thorpey will go.

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And two bathrooms and double parking space.

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He still owns a four-bedroom apartment around the corner on Ocean St, which was bought in December 2017 for $2.75 million.

It has been rented for $1,850 a week, having previously been for sale last October with a $3.5 million guide and passing on a seller’s offer of $3.95 million the year before.

He hasn’t indicated whether he plans to move there or buy elsewhere.

The property on Edgecliff Rd, which had two bathrooms and a double parking space, was always going to be popular, spans two levels and is full of natural light.

It is close to the village of Double Bay and offers beautiful views from the city skyline to Manly. This northeast-facing home features spacious bedrooms, an entertainer’s kitchen and a sun-drenched balcony.

Aust swimmer Ian Thorpe after breaking the world record in the 200m freestyle at the Australian Olympic Trials in Sydney on May 14, 2000.

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The 164 sq m apartment had previously sold in 2016 for $2.37 million.

Thorpe, who retired in 2016, won five Olympic gold medals, the second most won by any Australian after fellow swimmer Emma McKeon.

He was the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Thorpe, who came out as gay during an appearance on British talk show host Michael Parkinson’s program in 2014, was a prominent voice in the 2017 Yes campaign.

He is currently single and has his most publicly acknowledged gay relationship with model and law student Ryan Channing, who died in 2022.

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