Sam Short has finished a disappointing Paris 2024 campaign.Credit: Getty Images
The Sam Short mystery remains unsolved. After one of Australia’s strongest multi-medal chances failed to make another final on day eight in Paris, Short then avoided the media once more.
It marked a devastating end to a debut Olympics for the 20-year-old endurance swimmer, who placed seventh in his men’s 1500m freestyle heat – the final event on his program.
Having managed to keep on the tails of the top two for the first half the race, the subsequent fade-out was fast. He finished in 14:58.15, almost 18 seconds slower than Ireland’s heat winner and overall fastest qualifier Daniel Wiffen.
The time was 21 seconds slower than the personal best he set last year en route to world championships bronze in Fukuoka, and the shell-shock of such a disappointing meet was clear from the moment he touched the wall.
Short floated in lane five for an age, before finally making his way to the edge of pool well after the rest had already gotten out.
Then he walked through the media mixed zone with a Swimming Australia official, but did not stop to answer any questions, before being met by his coach Damien Jones for a moment away from the cameras.
Short has not given a single interview since the swimming began.
Requests to interview Jones and Dolphins head coach Rohan Taylor were declined on Saturday, which has only further fuelled speculation about what could have happened to the Queenslander this week.
Short arrived in Paris a genuine contender across three events, having claimed a rare treble of gold, silver and bronze medals in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events respectively at the 2023 world titles.
Those expectations were tempered by the illness that affected his Australian trials in June, when he qualified second in the 400m and 800m events behind friend and rival Elijah Winnington.
He also withdrew from the 1500m altogether, though was still given the green light by selectors to contest the event at the Games.
Come the Olympics, Short did not make it out of the heats in either the 800m or 1500m freestyle events and placed fourth in his 400m final, again behind Winnington.
A Swimming Australia official reiterated on Saturday that Short has not been sick in Paris, but the lack of clarity around what might have contributed to the below-par performances has prompted assumptions about the nature of his fitness and training as he recovered from June’s bout of gastro.
After the trials, Jones backed his swimmer, saying: “Get him healthy and the sky is the limit.”
Now he apparently is healthy, but the young man hailed as Grant Hackett’s potential successor is not flying.
It is also unclear whether Short was impacted by the controversy surrounding Australian coach Michael Palfrey.
On the eve of the Games, Palfrey made the extraordinary admission that he hoped South Korean world champion Kim Woo-min would beat Short and Winnington in the men’s 400m freestyle on night one. He pipped Short to bronze.