SYDNEY, Australia -- Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe retired from competitive swimming Tuesday at the age of 24, saying breaking records "wasn't as inspiring as it should have been."

Thorpe said he decided at "2:53 on Sunday afternoon" not to swim at next year's world championships in Melbourne and to end his pro swimming career. Thorpe burst onto the swimming scene as a teenager and swam to 13 world records between 1999-2002, becoming an international star after dominating at the Sydney Olympics.

-- The Associated Press