Article by Chris Robinson, courtesy of The West Australian.
Kyle Chalmers snared silver to reach the podium in a 100m freestyle final for a third straight Olympics – and says he’s still hungry for more after stunning the sporting world by revealing he won’t be retiring any time soon.
Chalmers turned eighth at the halfway mark and left himself too much to do to rein in an unprecedented swim from China’s Pan Zhanle, who set a new world record – the first of the Paris Games in the pool – with a blistering time of 46.40 seconds.
But Chalmers powered home to add to his Rio de Janeiro gold and Tokyo silver in the same event, edging Romania’s David Popovici by 0.01 seconds.
The South Australian said he was “stoked” with the result.
“I did everything I possibly could, and I’m very proud of that performance,” Chalmers said on Nine.
“Silver at my third Olympic Games… to be on the podium three consecutive times is something I’m very proud of and no one can ever take away from me.”
Despite speculation surrounding his immediate future, and a previous claim that this was shaping to be his final Olympics, 26-year-old Chalmers said he wouldn’t be giving the sport away.
“I’m not retiring any time soon,” he said.
“I love it and I think I’ll continue on as long as I possibly can.”
Fans and broadcasters alike were stunned by Chalmers’ statement, with fellow Olympic swimming great Ian Thorpe saying: “Isn’t that just the best news you’ve ever heard?!”
A fourth Olympics at age 30 would loom as a remarkable effort for Chalmers, who has battled a degenerative spine and bulging discs in his back and required four cortisone injections to get through last month’s Games trials.
It came as fellow Aussie Zac Stubblety-Cook couldn’t rein in French favourite Leon Marchand in the men’s 200m breaststroke final, leading to another silver in the pool.
Renowned as a subdued starter and fast finisher, Stubblety-Cook was almost a second behind Marchand at the halfway mark as he looked to make his move.
But with a raucous crowd at La Defense Arena screaming ‘Allez’ – French for ‘go’ – every time Marchand bobbed up for air, the hometown hero prevailed by 0.94 seconds in an Olympic record time of 2:05.85 seconds.
“It was an awesome race. To have a French crowd and a French favourite was unbelievable, and the crowd took us the whole way through,” Stubblety-Cook said.
“I think I just enjoyed the moment. When I came out, I knew it was going to be loud, but I didn’t expect it to be as loud as it was – I couldn’t even hear myself moving the block or anything.
“It was about staying composed and getting the best out of myself tonight, and that’s what I did.”
Marchand’s effort was made even more impressive after earlier snaring gold in the 200m butterfly final.
Perth swimmer Josh Yong finished eighth after sneaking into the final as the last qualifier.
The night of Aussie near-misses – including favourite Mollie O’Callaghan narrowly failing to get on the podium in the women’s 100m freestyle – meant it was the country’s first day without a swimming gold medal in Paris.
