Australian swimming heroes Mollie O’Callaghan and Kaylee McKeown will take some time off after the Olympics and will not compete at the World Cup stages later this year after an emotional and grueling week in which both won five medals at the Paris Games.
O’Callaghan won three gold, one silver and one bronze medals while McKeown won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals as both swimmers enjoyed their most successful Games and topped the individual medal table for Australia.
The Asian legs of the World Cup will take place in Shanghai, Incheon and Singapore in October and November, but O’Callaghan said she needed to take a break to “reset and reassess” before competing again.
“I am extremely tired, it has been an emotional and exhausting week. I had to try to keep it together. There was a lot of happiness, a lot of sadness. And it’s really difficult to deal with,” O’Callaghan told reporters.
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“I need a nice, long break. I need a mental break. People don’t see behind the scenes, we who train every day. It’s really, really mentally draining and it’s really difficult,” she added. “We are so self-critical. We are so hard on ourselves. We empty ourselves every day to do a few laps of the water… We do whatever it takes to save a few seconds for moments like this.
When McKeown was asked if she would go to the World Cup, she replied: “Same answer as Mollie. »
The 23-year-old, who convinced her 4x100m medley relay teammates to jump into the pool in tracksuits at the end of the competition, said they did their best, even though the United States placed at the top of the medals. chart.
“These Olympics, I wanted to challenge myself… There’s nothing else I would have done differently. But in saying that, I didn’t have time to think,” McKeown said .
“I’m sure if I think about it, I’ll nitpick just like athletes do. But I’m so proud of myself, my team, my coach, all of Australia in fact. We came together,” she said. “I’m not sure what this year has in store for me. I’ll probably take some time away from sports. I need to be able to do that just to refresh myself mentally. I don’t think people realize how difficult it is in a nine-day competition.
Proud Chinese Zhang to take break after six medals at Games
China’s Zhang Yufei said she would like to take a break from swimming and experience other things in life after finishing her Paris Games with six medals to become her country’s most decorated Olympic swimmer.
The 26-year-old won a bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relay on Sunday, taking her career tally to 10 at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics after returning empty-handed from her debut at Rio.
“This is my third Olympics,” Zhang told reporters. “I spent 12 years focused entirely on swimming and never tried anything else. After these Olympic Games, I would like to discover other aspects of life.
China’s Zhang Yufei poses for a photo with her bronze medal on the podium in the women’s 50 meter freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. | Photo credit: AP
China’s Zhang Yufei poses for a photo with her bronze medal on the podium in the women’s 50 meter freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. | Photo credit: AP
Zhang won three more bronze medals in the 100 and 200 fly and the 4×100 freestyle relay. She also won silver in the mixed 4×100 medley relay.
Not adding to the gold medals she won in the 200 fly and 4×200 freestyle relay in Tokyo might have been a disappointment to some of her fans back home, but not to Zhang.
“If you look at my times in the individual races, they weren’t very good,” Zhang said. “That being said, I still won six medals. For me personally, this was already a huge step forward. I feel particularly proud of myself.
Zhang, like ten other Chinese swimmers, was competing in Paris in the shadow of a doping feud that dominated the run-up to the Games.
