Cate Campbell describes her Rio performance as “greatest choke in Olympic history”

CATE Campbell has been scathing in her own assessment of her performance in Rio but bounced back to help the medley relay team win silver with her final swim. WATCH THE VIDEO

Cate Campbell misses out on a medal in the final of the women's 50m freestyle.. Pics Adam Head

CATE Campbell wants to take responsibility for her Olympic Games performance but has hinted for the first time there may be more to her Rio results than what she branded “probably the biggest choke in Olympic history”.

Campbell somehow overcame the gut-wrenching disappointment of her individual performances at the Olympic Games, finishing sixth in the 100m freestyle and fifth in the 50m event, to anchor Australia’s 4x100m medley relay team from sixth to silver.

It was a gutsy swim just 45 minutes after her 50m heartbreak and the 52.17s split showed to the world that despite her individual event failings she remains one of the fastest and most resilient athletes in the pool.

Cate Campbell bounced back from disappointment in the 50m freestyle final..... Pics Adam Head

The 24-year-old said she had no-one but herself to blame for how she had performed in Rio and although she leaves with one gold and one silver relay medals it’s not the outcome she’d spent the past four years wanting to achieve.

And while her own coach Simon Cusack indicated Campbell’s performances were the result of anxiety, Campbell herself indicated something else was amiss but she wasn’t ready to reveal it to the world.

“I’m not here to make excuses, everyone has injuries and everyone has setbacks,” Campbell said.

“I’m not about to put anything in print just now, I want my results to stand for themselves and I want to be able to stand and take responsibility for my actions.

“There may be a few things coming out a little bit later but that is absolutely not relevant at the moment.

“It’s been a tough week, there is no denying. But I’m very very proud of that (relay) swim. I executed it exactly how I was supposed to do it two nights ago and came away with a very different result and I can’t be prouder than that.”

...To help the team win silver in the 4x100m freestyle (from left to right: Cate Campbell, Taylor McKeown, Emily Seebohm, Emma McKeon) Picture. Phil Hillyard

Head coach Jacco Verhaeren confirmed there had been some issue with Campbell, but said her heats, semi-finals and relay performances proved it was not relevant to how she executed in the finals.

“It’s something that I’ve been made aware of but if she wants to mention it she certainly doesn’t want to use that as any excuse I am very sure of that,” Verhaeren said.

“Seeing her heats, semi-final and relay swims I don’t think that it was an excuse either. Unfortunately she didn’t execute that race in the final very well and that is what you need to do to win here.”

Verhaeren praised Campbell for how she handled the 50m setback to come out and fire in the women’s relay team. She wasn’t alone in stepping up either, with Emily Seebohm’s backstroke leg crucial and much faster than her finals performance while breaststroker Taylor McKeown and butterflyer Emma McKeon were also strong.

“I think Cate was stoked with that result but now definitely realises what an opportunity she left there,” he said.

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“That is very tough, it’s very rough, but again like we said already that has nothing to do with amazing quality of swimmer she is.

“I don’t know how she got that hand to the wall but she did it.

“Of course she was aiming for something else here and that unfortunately didn’t work out. But if you can step up like that after disappointment for the team it shows how good her and the team spirit is.”

Originally published as Cate Campbell describes her Rio performance as “greatest choke in Olympic history”