Ariarne Titmus reveals the suffocating pressure that led to her Tokyo collapse

Ariarne Titmus was Australia’s hero of the Tokyo Olympic Games but behind the scenes, she collapsed from total exhaustion. She reveals all in the latest En Route to Paris podcast.

Gold medallist Ariarne Titmus has revealed the moment she “collapsed” at the Tokyo Olympics, detailing the physical and emotional toll of her debut Games and why the pressure-cooker environment is unlike anything she’s ever experienced.

Titmus completed an exhausting competition schedule in Tokyo where she won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal, finishing her meet with a close second place finish to fierce rival Katie Ledecky in the 800m freestyle final.

It was after that race, she told the En Route to Paris podcast, where the sheer magnitude of the entire week was finally able to be released and she literally fell to the floor behind the scenes and away from the glare of the world’s media.

Ariarne Titmus was a stand out in the pool, achieving four Olympic medals in the pool. Picture: Clive Rose/Getty Images.

“My Olympics last time was such a blur to me … it was probably the most gruelling and exhausting week of my life,” Titmus told Rowie Webster in the podcast.

“I was probably most proud of my performance in the 800m to be honest.

“When that race was over, it was like you’re in a pressure cooker and you release the valve. I collapsed, my mind and body relaxed for the first time in nine days.

“I just collapsed. It was the most unreal feeling it was over and done.

“You look forward to an Olympic Games your entire life and you train your whole life for it and then when you’re in it you just want it to be over.

“I think that is the most bizarre feeling but the sense of relief I was done was unreal and just overcame me.”

Titmus said the biggest challenge of the Games was controlling her emotions during the highs and lows of a week where she barely had a session off from racing.

With morning finals and evening heats, sometimes she had just 30 minutes of alone time in her village room between sessions to quietly reflect upon her achievements before preparing for the next trip to the pool to race again.

While the Paris schedule will revert to the more traditional evening finals schedule, Titmus will still be racing almost daily and that mental strain remains one of the toughest challenges of an Olympics.

But the adrenaline rush of pushing her body through such extreme challenges and succeeding is a feeling she knows she will never experience in any other facet of life.

“When you’re in such a high pressure environment your body does incredible things,” she said.

“Being in those races where everything kind of comes together and the ability of your body to find something extra, I think I will probably miss that the most when I retire.

“You can’t ever replicate that in everyday life.

“I just wish there was something else in the real world that could make you feel that euphoric energy feeling.”

Titmus is in the final countdown towards the Paris Olympics, with Australia’s selection trials just one month away starting in Brisbane on June 10.