The only thing is I am a little bit ashamed of is I didn't come out earlier, that I didn't have the strength to do it, the courage to break that lie. But everyone goes on their own path to do this, and I don't want the struggle to be so hard for other people.
Interpretation
The speaker expresses regret for not being open about their identity sooner, highlighting the personal journey and challenges faced by others.
In this quote, Ian Thorpe reflects on his experience of coming out and the feelings of shame he has for not doing it earlier. He acknowledges the personal struggle involved in accepting one's truth and emphasizes that everyone has their own journey, hoping that by sharing his own story, he can make it easier for others facing similar challenges.
In practice
In a motivational speech about embracing one's true self.
When I go out and race, I'm not trying to beat opponents, I'm trying to beat what I have done ... to beat myself, basically. People find that hard to believe because we've had such a bias to always strive to win things. If you win something and you haven't put everything into it, you haven't actually achieved anything at all. When you've had to work hard for something and you've got the best you can out of yourself on that given day, that's where you get satisfaction from.
For myself, losing is not coming second. It's getting out of the water knowing you could have done better. For myself, I have won every race I've been in
I have decided to give up competition. I cannot train properly for the Tour de France which I had hoped to ride for the last time as apotheosis to my career. Doctors are forbidding me to ride anymore in high level competition and I bow to them.
So they didn't let anybody else off. I can't live like this, I'm finished. Auschwitz was easy.
I have times when I'm off-balance. I have times when I slur my words. I have times when I walk into walls. I have times when I can't remember somebody's name.
When I was raped I lost my virginity and almost lost my life. I also discarded certain assumptions I had held about how the world worked and about how safe I was.
There is no doubt the charge was an awful gamble and that no normal precautions were possible. The issue as far as I was concerned had to be left to Fortune or to God - or to whatever may decide these things. I am content and shall not complain.
Danger is very real but fear is a choice.
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