- Mollie O’Callaghan in tears after looking back at the Paris Games
- Swimmers feel they have let the country down
- Dolphins had an excellent Olympic campaign
Successful Mollie O’Callaghan gave an emotional interview after her success at the Paris Olympics, admitting she was disappointed with some of her results.
The Australian swimming team won seven gold, eight silver and three bronze at the pool in Paris.
In terms of gold, it is the country’s third-best performance in an Olympic pool, after the nine gold medals in Tokyo three years ago and the eight gold medals at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
In terms of total medals, the Dolphins’ 18 medals are also Australia’s third-best result.
The national swimming team won a total of 21 medals in Tokyo, 20 at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and 18 at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Yet Mollie O’Callaghan and Kaylee McKeown feel like they have let the country down.
O’Callaghan, 20, choked back tears when asked if she was proud of her performance in Paris.
“Part of me yes, and part of me no,” she said News Corp.
Mollie O’Callaghan gave an emotional interview about her performance at the Paris Games
Despite their success, Mollie O’Callaghan and Kaylee McKeown feel they could have done better in Paris
‘It’s all good, but I think it’s hard because there’s so much good stuff, and also so much shit.
‘Ultimately you just have to stay positive because a lot of people don’t get the chance to be on stage.’
O’Callaghan was the country’s most successful swimmer in Paris, winning three golds, one silver and one bronze.
Obviously the pressure to be an Olympic swimmer in Australia is immense.
“While you get stuck in the idea of ’you want a gold medal and you got a gold medal,’ it’s also the personal standards that we know we could have enforced much more strongly,” McKeown said.
O’Callaghan was the country’s most successful swimmer in Paris
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“We’re just frustrated inside, because of what could have happened, that’s the worst thing.
‘We’re always going to be the hardest, harshest critics of ourselves, whether that’s making a final and missing out on the medals or making a medal and missing out on (a fast time). It’s not greedy, it’s just knowing that you could have done so much more and you’ve done the hard work to earn that spot.’
