Reuters - Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe is in intensive care in a Sydney hospital receiving treatment for an infection that could result in him losing the use of his left arm, Australian media reported on Tuesday.

The five-times Olympic champion reportedly contracted the bug after surgery at a hospital in Switzerland, where he now lives.

In February, Thorpe's manager James Erskine said the 31-year-old was suffering from depression after being found disorientated and behaving oddly near a vehicle in Australia after taking a mixture of anti-depressants and painkillers for a shoulder injury.

Thorpe, who made his Games debut in Sydney in 2000, retired in 2006 due to a lack of motivation and made an ill-fated comeback in 2011 when he failed to make the Australian team for the London 2012 Olympics.