Thorpe's future puts Australia in a spin

SYDNEY, Nov 20 (Reuters) Ian Thorpe's possible withdrawal from next year's world championships has rekindled doubts about his prospects of ever returning to his best after taking an extended break from the sport.

Thorpe is expected to announce his decision tomorrow after his coach revealed he was struggling to shake off the effects of long-term illness.

Coach Tracey Menzies said Thorpe was still pushing ahead with his long-term goal of swimming at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but was struggling to get fit for next month's world championship selection trials. He has had to battle against the effects of glandular fever and fractured his hand in a training accident.

Thorpe is a superstar in his home country and the news has sent the Australian media into a frenzy, knocking the buildup to the first Ashes cricket test off the front pages amid wild speculation that his brilliant career could be over.

There are claims that the 24-year-old has lost his motivation for training and warnings from coaches that his career would be over if he did not compete at the world championships, the last major international meet before the Olympics.

''I would say if he doesn't get in (the water) now, then the chances of him swimming in Beijing are just about zero,'' Australia's former head coach Don Talbot told the Sydney Morning Herald today.

''With great athletes if they decide they want to do something then I wouldn't bet against them ... if they want to do it and he's got to want to do it. I wouldn't bet against him, but I wouldn't bet on him, either.'' Australia's head coach Alan Thompson said Thorpe would still have enough time to prepare for Beijing but needed to decide whether he still had the motivation to commit to the required training schedule.

''In normal circumstances you would certainly see this as a major stepping stone on the way to the Olympic Games but for somebody of the ability of Ian I'm sure that he would be more than capable of making it through to the Olympic Games without this meet,'' Thompson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

''He's had a lot of distractions in his preparations over the last few months and I think he's just trying to work out where he is and what's going on.'' Thorpe is one of the greatest swimmers of all time after winning his first world title in 1998 at just 15 years of age.

He has won 10 world titles and five Olympic gold medals and broken 21 world records but has been worn down by the constant grind of training and the intrusive public and media scrutiny into his private life.

LONG ROAD He took a year off after winning two gold medals at the Athens Olympics to recharge his batteries before the long road to China but is yet to reappear at a major international meet.

He skipped the 2005 world championships in Montreal and his planned comeback at this year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne was aborted when he was suddenly struck down by glandular fever.

Thorpe left Sydney to train in Los Angeles this year, but has been unable to reach full fitness through a combination of health problems and waning motivation.

''He's got nothing to prove,'' former Australian swimming coach Lawrie Lawrence said.

''I'd love to see him keep swimming but he's the sort of person who if he's not totally switched on to what he's doing ... he doesn't want to put a half-hearted attempt in -- that's his character.

''And if he feels that's it's going to be a half-hearted attempt I am sure he won't go on.'' REUTERS DKS PM0632