Five-time Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe says he has thought about quitting the sport because of the media spotlight.

The swimmer has also lashed out at media reports that he has slacked off training during a three month refresher trip to California.

The article to which he was referring said Thorpe had been spotted in the training pool only once in the past fortnight and was spotted munching on pizza and hamburgers.

But Thorpe told News Ltd papers he is working harder than ever.

"Over the last couple of months, I toyed with the question of quitting, virtually daily," he told the paper.

"I love training, I love racing, but you know the things that come with it: the unwanted attention, all of these things that affect my family.

"You know, I start to question is this actually worth it, because I can't turn it off and I can't get away from it."

Thorpe has not competed for more than two years, having been forced out of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games earlier this year with glandular fever.

But the swimming star says he still has ambitions to swim beyond the next Olympics.

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