The Thorpedo Returns! Swimmer Ian Thorpe to Compete at 2012 Olympics

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Five-time Australian Olympic freestyle champion Ian Thorpe

Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images

Kudos to the London 2012 Olympics: the “extraordinary” swimming venue has persuaded legendary Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe to come out of retirement and attempt to add to his five Gold medals.

The 28-year-old quit the sport back in 2006 and has often been forced to deny several reports of a return to international swimming. But Thorpe changed his mind when he “went to see the swimming venue for the London Olympics and it’s an extraordinary venue and I could taste it, which is something I haven’t felt for a very, very long time.”

(More on TIME.com: See pictures from the Beijing Olympics.)

And by registering for Swimming Australia’s drug testing program, he will be eligible to take part in the Olympic trials taking place a year from now. But the key question all sports fans want to know is this: will the long-awaited showdown with Michael Phelps take place? And despite Thorpe confirming that he plans to focus on competing in the relays, he didn’t rule out entering the individual races. Were this to take place, this would be the equivalent of Ali vs. Frazier in boxing (if you don’t mind swapping fists for feet) and would surely be the most mouth-watering event in the entire games, unless a serious rival emerges to take on Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. Indeed, it would be a rematch (the rumble in the pool, perchance?) as Thorpe bested Phelps in the 200m freestyle at the 2004 Athens Games though Phelps would surely start as favorite in London 2012.

(More on TIME.com: See pictures of Michael Phelps.)

The ‘Thorpedo”s resume is impressive:  three Golds at his home Games in Sydney 2000 and a further two in Athens four years later (though, of course, Phelps famously won eight Golds alone in Beijing). Thorpe’s also set 13 World Records during his storied career but the prospect of competing in one final Olympics, winning more medals and — possibly — taking on and defeating the awesome American could be as exciting a story as one could ever find in sports. The countdown to London 2012 just got a whole lot more exciting. (via BBC)