The Daily Telegraph has reported that Olympic Gold Medalist Ian Thorpe has split from his former manager David Flaskas to join James Erskine at the burgeoning Sports & Entertainment Limited (SEL). Thorpe made an unsuccessful comeback this year in his bid to make the Australian swimming team for the London Olympics. Despite this, Thorpe is still a household name and popular figure with Australians, with current sponsorship deals including Adidas and Audi. David Flaskas will still manage these pre-existing deals, while James Erskine will seek new opportunities. These new opportunities may include a reporting role from the London Games, though both Foxtel and Channel 9 have full rosters, which will find it hard to fit Thorpe in. With Thorpe being a well respected figure in the international swimming community, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he landed a role with an overseas network.
SEL is going from strength to strength recently, having also just added Harry Kewell to their stable of superstars including Michael Clarke and Shane Warne.