Paris Olympics 2024: Sam Short fails to make final of 800m freestyle

Sam Short was inconsolable after his bad run of luck at the Olympics continued when he missed the final of the 800m freestyle.

Sam Short has to be Australia’s unluckiest swimmer.

An incredible talent who works like a Trojan, Short just can’t cut a break at the Olympics.

Normally a chatterbox, Short was inconsolable after he missed the final of the 800m freestyle in Paris, trudging past reporters at the La Defense Arena without saying a word.

He didn’t need to. His body language said it all.

The kid was shattered after a bout of gastro before the Australian trials set back his preparations and ultimately ruined his chances of winning a medal in a race he was the favourite for gold.

Short will get other chances.

He’s still entered in the 1500m in Paris and will only be 24 at the next Olympics in Los Angeles but must be wondering what he’s done to upset the swimming gods because he just can’t take a trick.

Sam Short begins his 800m freestyle heat. Picture: Adam Head

If he had been at peak fitness, he would have been the overwhelming favourite to win gold in the 800m after breaking Grant Hackett’s Australian record at last year’s world championships in Fukuoka.

He was the number one seed for the 16-lap race in Paris but finished ninth overall in the heats, with only the top eight making the final.

For anyone else, it would be a day at the office but for Short, it was just a continuation of the rotten luck that has followed him throughout his career.

On the first night of swimming in Paris, he finished fourth in the 400m, missing a bronze medal but just 0.14 second after he had won the world title last year.

He was gutted but made no excuses even though his years of hard training have been derailed by a crippling virus.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg for Short, one of the best distance swimmers Australia has produced.

Disappointed Short checks the clock at the end of his race. Picture: Adam Head

In 2021, he missed out on selection for the Australian junior team when the world titles were cancelled, then was robbed of his chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.

Still a teenager at the time, Short should have gone to his first Olympics after finishing second in the 1500m at the national trials with a time that was well under the official qualifying standard.

But he was denied his spot in the team because of a cold-blooded clause that Swimming Australia’s coaches had added to the selection policy. Despised by the swimmers, the cutthroat rule requires Australia’s competitors to meet a much higher standard than their overseas competitors – the equivalent of being at least top eight in the world.

In Short’s case, while he was left off the team for Tokyo, his spot in the 1500m went to a teammate who had finished 11 seconds behind him at the trials.

A disappointed Sam Short after his heat swim. Picture: Adam Head

A year later than he should have been, Short was finally picked for his first Australian team – in 2022 – ironically helped by the same loony rules that left him high and dry during Tokyo.

At the trials for the Commonwealth Games and World Championships, Short secured his spot in the team by finishing second in the 800m. He also won the 1500m but missed the qualifying time after miscounting his laps and stopping after 1400m, only to be told he had two more laps to go.

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Raised in surf lifesaving, Short knows the importance of waiting patiently for the right wave, but this is a bitter blow for him, but his team mates have his back.

“I was in the same boat,” said Elijah Winnington, who win silver in the 400m and made the 800 final.

“Well, not quite the exact same, but very similar but being disappointed at an Olympics.

“He was the world champion in the 400m, second in the 800m going in the fastest. If there’s anything I know about Sam it’s that he’s a tough athlete.

“He still got the 1500m. He’s a fighter, and there’s no better fight than the 1500m so I’ll back him all the way.”