Her self-proclaimed Rio “choke” now consigned to history, Australian Olympic team co-captain Cate Campbell is happily back on social media.
But after winning two gold and a bronze in Tokyo to medal at four consecutive Games, the swim star wants the emotion to settle before making a call on her competition future.
The speculation is that Campbell and record-breaking teammate Emma McKeon might have swum at their last Olympics.
Asked about retirement, Campbell immediately replied with “no comment.
“I have loved every minute and loved being a part of this team … seeing it grow and evolve into the absolutely unstoppable, incredible beast that it became this week, has been one of the most (privileged) experiences of my life,” she said.
“I just need to reflect and soak that all in and not make any major life decisions while I’m this full of emotions.”
Campbell also spoke of dealing with public expectations, something that became a major issue with her after failing to medal in individual events at the Rio Games.
She wrote an emotional comment piece in 2018, addressed to the “keyboard warriors” who criticised her in the wake of her Rio disappointment.
This time, she let her swimming do the talking.
“I have learned through many, many years that thinking about how my performance will affect other people has a negative impact on my performance,” Campbell said on Monday.
“So when I go into a race, as selfish as it sounds, I am solely thinking about myself.
“If I do that, then I know that whatever I do, the performance will speak for itself.
“We’ve seen so many performances speak for themselves over the past week.”
Campbell said now the swimming was over, she is enjoying the public reaction.
“I felt the groundswell of support after I’d left the pool, once I gotten out and now I’ve logged back onto social media, it’s been overwhelming,” she said.
AAP
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