Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan appeared injured in the cool down pool following her silver performance in the women’s 100m backstroke final.
Nine’s broadcast of the FINA Short Course World Championships showed O’Callaghan in distress, clutching her left side while trying to swim down from her previous event.
“Pictures speak for themselves. They came shortly after the women’s backstroke, in which Australia went one and two, Molly in second, you can see the emotion, you can see how much it means for her to represent Australia, how much this event means to her,” Nine commentator Matt Thompson said.
Aussie quinella in backstroke final
Immediately after seeing the footage, Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe was convinced O’Callaghan was hurt.
“She’s injured,” he said.
“It’s actually sad to see.
“This is pure emotion.
“We really don’t want to see this. And you know, the first thoughts have to go to the way that Mollie is feeling at the moment.
“The second thought is she’s already been allocated to swim in the 4x200m relay tonight. We can’t have her represented by another athlete.
“She’s thinking, ‘I’ve let people down’.
“We don’t have all of the results. But for Mollie, you know, our heart goes out to her.”
“She’s holding her left hand side,” added former Australian swimming great Gian Rooney.
“I’m hoping there isn’t something that has happened in warm down when she has copped a kick or something from another athlete.
“[She looks] very distraught – very rare – Mollie is very much an athlete that keeps her emotions in check most of the time.
The Australian swim team has yet to comment on the extent of O’Callaghan’s injury.
“I can tell you that we have spoken to the [Australian] team and asked what the issue is,” Thompson said.
“At the moment, they’re not prepared to let us in on what’s going on with Mollie O’Callaghan. So we will just give her some time to see whether whatever’s going on there can potentially resolve itself.
The 18-year-old is entered to swim in the 4x200m freestyle relay and cannot be replaced in the team.
The order of entry currently consists of Madi Wilson, O’Callaghan, Leah Neale and Lani Pallister.
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