Rio 2016: James Magnussen content with Olympic medals, despite absence of gold
JAMES Magnussen accepts he may never win an Olympic gold medal but he would still retire from swimming more than content with his career.
Olympics
Don't miss out on the headlines from Olympics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
JAMES Magnussen accepts he may never win an Olympic gold medal but he would still retire from swimming more than content with his career.
The man once dubbed “the Missile” has now endured two Olympic campaigns where as much as he’s wanted a coveted gold medal an American nemesis has blocked his path.
In London that man was Nathan Adrian who thwarted his 100m freestyle quest while in Rio yesterday it was again Adrian who broke his heart as he anchored USA’s stunning 4x100m freestyle relay victory that left Magnussen and his Australian teammates with a bronze medal behind France.
After battling to overcome a serious shoulder injury and surgery just 12 months ago Magnussen was genuinely excited to have won an Olympic relay bronze medal with Cameron McEvoy, Kyle Chalmers and his fellow “bandage bear” James Roberts.
But it’s another four years until the Tokyo Olympics and while he can take inspiration from Michael Phelps winning gold aged 31, Magnussen knows that feat may be beyond his battered shoulders and 24-year-old body.
“I never even as a child thought I would be a professional swimmer, let alone swim an Olympics, let alone have three Olympic medals,” Magnussen said.
“I’m happy just to be here. If I never get an Olympic gold medal then I can live with myself knowing I’ve given everything I could in my swimming career.
“The old shoulders still have a couple of years left in them yet so I will see how I go.
“It was a crazy race and felt like open water swimming in there, bodies were flying everywhere and splash so to get a bronze medal at the Olympics for us two (with James Roberts) who maybe didn’t even expect to be here is pretty exciting.”
The growth of Magnussen from brash and cocky sprinter infamous for his “brace yourselves” tagline four years ago to a team member ready to don “pompoms and miniskirt” to support the Dolphins for the rest of the week is admirable.
He has dealt with the embarrassment of the stilnox saga, won two world titles, overcome shoulder surgery and fought all the way to Rio for an Olympic bronze medal after learning from the harsh lessons of 2012.
“This was a completely different preparation and expectations, we’ve gone about our business nice and quietly and stuck to our own race plans,” he said.
“There was no Weapons of Mass anything, Missiles, Rockets (Roberts’ former nickname) or any of the other paraphernalia.
“It was a nice preparation, we were pretty laid back and quietly confident and enjoyed ourselves out there tonight.”
Originally published as Rio 2016: James Magnussen content with Olympic medals, despite absence of gold
Olympic world rocked by athlete’s death
The Olympic world is in mourning following the death of two-time Olympian Laura Dahlmeier in a mountaineering tragedy.
World Athletics’ big move to avoid Olympics-style gender furore
Under new rules, which have been approved by the council of World Athletics, female competitors in all future competitions that carry ranking points will face mandatory SRY gene tests.