“He missed the finish.”

These are the four words that gave one of Australia’s greatest ever Olympians a new lease on life.

Ian Thorpe burst into Australians’ hearts and minds at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, going on to win nine Olympic medals, breaking several world records and earning the nickname ‘Thorpedo’.

But, after retiring in his early 20s, Ian struggled with life after swimming, dealing with injuries, failed comebacks and his highly publicised sexuality.

Close to disappearing from public life, that all changed with a brief moment of brilliance while commentating at the 2012 London Olympics.

When James Magnussen unexplainably missed out on 100m gold by 1x100th of a second, nobody could understand what happened… except Ian Thorpe.

Asked on the BBC, “Ian, what do you make of that?”

He responded, “He missed the finish.”

Ian joins Alan Jones on the Gold Coast, vividly remembering the moment that gave him a career after swimming.

“Magnussen lost by 1/100th of a second. His fingers were going up. That’s the difference.

“You collapse your fingers. You may break them, but you win.”

Alan says he knew right away that Ian had sealed his future as a commentator.

“I told Ian, I rang him straight away and said ‘you’ve just become an international commentator’. People want to hear you because of your understanding of the game.”

Ian also commented on the controversial outdoor pool being used for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Click PLAY below for the full interview