SYDNEY (AFP) - Five-time gold medal swimmer Ian Thorpe said Thursday that Australian athletes should not boycott this year's Beijing Olympics in response to China's crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has also rejected calls for a boycott in protest over China's handling of the unrest in Tibet, saying this would be unfair to athletes.

Australia's most successful Olympian, Ian Thorpe said he supported the AOC's stance.

"The Games is a peacetime event, it's a peaceful event," he told reporters.

"People can have their political views on China and what's going on at the moment, obviously people have very strong views.

"But we've had the Olympic Games, we've competed in every Olympic Games, and in the spirit of the Games itself, people should be able to do it."

Thorpe has retired from competitive swimming, citing a lack of motivation after competing in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith come out against a boycott.