Melbourne: Australia’s Ian Thorpe has called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to consider handing automatic entry to defending Olympic champions.

Thorpe won gold in the 400 m freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Games but was disqualified for a false start in his heat at the Australian Olympic trials last month and will be unable to defend his title in Athens later this year.

“I think that if you’re still of a similar standard to what you were at the previous Olympics, I guess that’s probably a possibility that the IOC should look at,” Thorpe told Australian radio on Tuesday.

Thorpe, 21, has qualified in the 100m and 200m freestyle and three relays for the Athens Olympics from August 13-29.

The 400m freestyle world record holder’s Australian teammate Craig Stevens said on Saturday he would take a week off training to go fishing and to think about withdrawing from the 400 to concentrate his Olympic campaign on his preferred 1,500 freestyle event.

This would give Australian head coach Leigh Nugent the opportunity to select Thorpe in the 400 alongside Grant Hackett, who beat Stevens into second place in the 400 and 1,500 at the eight-day national championships which ended on April 3.

Despite repeated calls from the public and the media for Thorpe to be given another chance in the 400, Australian Swimming said the disqualification would stand.

“I don’t think it (a withdrawal by Stevens) is going to happen but it depends on what his reasoning is,” Thorpe told Australian television on Monday.

“If Craig feels that he doesn’t want to do it, that it’s going to affect his other races (200 freestyle relay and 1,500 freestyle), that’s when I will consider it.

“If he’s been pressured into it or he’s made to make that decision, I won’t swim the race either.”