Ian Thorpe arrives in London, everyone's asking THAT question.

He didn’t qualify for the Australian Olympic team, but 5-time gold medal winner Ian Thorpe has still made it to London for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Thorpe is working as a caller for the BBC, commentating on swimming events in the first week of Olympic competition.

But his prominence on the telly has brought on a flurry of tweets from people asking questions about Thorpe’s sexuality.

Earlier this month, the 29-year-old addressed rumours about whether he was gay in a documentary that aired on ABC. In a question in in reference to his popularity in the gay community, Ian was asked whether he sleeps with men or women. Thorpe said: “ah, women.”

“Being asked about (being gay) gets annoying,” he said. “I think people feel threatened by me because they can’t define exactly what I am.”

Thorpe’s move to the commentary box isn’t a permanent one however. He plans to return to the pool and hopes to qualify for next year’s world championships.

This from The Herald Sun:

“I can kind of feel that there is some more to give,” Thorpe said. “Coming into the sport with a different attitude and finding the joy in the sport again makes a big difference.”

Asked when he intended to race again professionally, with an eye on next year’s world championships in Barcelona, he said: “I don’t think until the end of this year. I want to stick to training and wait until the very end. Probably the Australian summer season of racing.”

He had gone into that meet as the talk of the nation, but after tanking in the 200m and 100m freestyle events it was clear that Magnussen had supplanted him as the new face of a flagging sport.

“Frankly, I didn’t perform well enough to make the team,” said Thorpe, who was coming back after a four-year hiatus. “I knew that I was under such a time constraint in getting back to where I needed to be. I missed out because people were swimming faster than me.”