Thorpe misses out on 100m butterfly final

Ian Thorpe failed to qualify for the 100m butterfly final as the Australian continued his comeback at the World Cup in Singapore.

The 29-year-old, a freestyle specialist with five Olympic gold medals to his name, finished seventh in yesterday’s 100m individual medley final.

But he was unable to follow that up with another final appearance today, managing a third-placed finish in his butterfly heat in a time of 54.09 seconds, which was only good enough for 11th place overall.

Thorpe quit the sport in 2006 but recently announced his intention to come back with the aim of competing at next year’s London Olympics.

And he insists people should not be surprised by his performances in Singapore.

“I came here expecting to get absolutely hammered in races and I knew it was going to happen,” Thorpe said.

“Anyone who didn’t think that was going to happen didn’t have this in perspective.”