Australian swimming legend Kyle Chalmers has admitted media scrutiny made it difficult for him to enjoy his Commonwealth Games gold medal.
Chalmers also confessed that he doesn’t believe he’ll be competing at the 2024 Olympic Games if the same level of attention continues.
The Aussie impressed once again with a gold medal-winning swim in the 100m freestyle at the games, however, the lead-up to the race had left his mental health deteriorating.
Reports had emerged over the past week that there was a rift between Chalmers and his former partner Emma McKeon and her current partner Cody Simpson.
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Such reports had been blasted by Chalmers and led to the swimmer firing back at reporters after he had been bombarded with questions about McKeon and Simpson’s relationship throughout the games.
The overwhelming attention led to Chalmers admitting that he had considered flying home from the games and reconsidering his future.
Deciding to stay, Chalmers showed the swimming world what he is all about, smashing Monday (August 1) night’s final with a time of 47.51 seconds.
However, he sadly revealed that he was struggling to find joy in the moment.
He told 7news: "Instead of enjoying the moment, it's almost a big sense of relief to be honest with you.
"I just hope no-one has to go through what I have had to go through over the last 48 hours.
"This last 48 hours has been hell. It has been an emotional roller coaster.
"Even speaking to my coach before the race, I almost started crying and I'm not an emotional person."
Chalmers added: "It is special to win but unfortunately I think it is hard to enjoy the moment when all that has happened has gone on.
“It makes it a challenging time.”
Upon touching the wall and confirming his win, Chalmers held up a single finger to his mouth in a defiant celebration, silencing his critics.
Despite his triumph, however, the former Olympic games gold medalist admitted that he wasn’t sure about his future in swimming and competing at the next Olympic Games after facing such challenging and emotional circumstances.
He continued: “I definitely want to. That’s been my dream to win in Paris.
“But if I have to keep going through a similar thing I won’t last until Paris, I know that. It’s too challenging and not something I swim for.
“I know I stand here bravely, but this has really set me back a lot. I really don’t know what’s next for me.
"Right now I’m on a high of racing, but I’m sure tomorrow when I wake up or at the end of the week when I get my flight home there’ll be plenty of different emotions that go through my head, but if it is the pool I think I’ll go back (to the same training set-up).”
Jayden Collins