This Australian swimming squad has been thing precise peculiar astatine the Tokyo Olympics and it's 2 bronze medals that possibly champion sum up why.
This greeting we saw Emily Seebohm interruption down successful tears aft surging to 3rd successful a phenomenal past 50m of the 200m backstroke final.
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It was the sixth medal of her Olympic vocation crossed 4 Games, starting mode backmost successful Beijing 2008, 13 years ago.
After the race, in which her teammate Kaylee McKeown secured an historical treble golden by backing up her earlier 100m backstroke victory, an outpouring of emotion from Seebohm retraced her Olympic journey.
"I was good before," she said arsenic the tears started to flow.
"Yeah, I dont cognize like, I'm sorry, I conscionable ... it's truthful amazing, similar I ne'er thought this was going to hap again. I conscionable consciousness truthful lucky.
"God, I'm not a crier normally, I'm not a crier astatine all."
To recognize wherefore the bronze medal meant truthful overmuch to Seebohm successful what is apt to beryllium her past ever aquatics connected the Olympic stage, it pays to callback immoderate of the crushing lows, among them the metallic medal she won successful the 100m backstroke successful London successful 2012.
Having breached the Olympic grounds successful the heats to beryllium the fastest qualifier for the final, Seebohm struggled with the unit of favouritism and faded successful the closing stages to suffer the pb to American Missy Franklin, losing her grip connected an idiosyncratic golden medal she thought was hers for the taking.
She was visibly shattered afterwards and has since admitted that those scars took a agelong clip to heal.
So to spot her truthful jubilant aft winning her 2nd idiosyncratic Olympic medal, this clip arsenic a fertile outsider, seemed to beryllium a healing moment, not conscionable for her perhaps, but for the Australian nationalist too.
Back successful 2012 Seebohm was harshly panned for her absorption to silver, owed to the sullen look connected her look erstwhile she was presented with it connected the dais. This clip astir she was each smiles beneath her mask, sharing successful McKeown's aureate infinitesimal with her atop the dais arsenic the Australian nationalist anthem played.
It's been that benignant of squad - squad being the operative connection - with the Australian swimmers pushing each different to large heights and acold and distant exceeding expectations, some their ain and the golden bare Australian media.
As a four-time Olympian, Seebohm, on with Cate Campbell, is the seasoned of the team.
Yesterday Campbell excessively won a bronze medal to observe 5 years aft a self-described "choke" arsenic the blistery favourite to triumph the 100m freestyle successful Rio.
Both of them person recovered from lows successful astonishing manner to beryllium existent leaders and mentors to a superb caller procreation of Australian stars.
You could spot that successful the mode Campbell celebrated with 100m golden medallist McKeon and past however McKeown embraced Seebohm, telling her that she deserved to beryllium connected the apical measurement of the dais conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic the golden medallist herself.
They volition spell down arsenic 2 of the genuinely magical moments of a imagination week successful the excavation and that world whitethorn person deed with Seebohm arsenic she processed her bronze medal aquatics done a torrent of tears.
"It's conscionable been an implicit imagination to beryllium connected this squad and I'm conscionable truthful grateful for each the times I've been connected the Australian aquatics team," Seebohm said.
"Honestly, it's been the favourite happening of my full vocation being connected this team.
"I consciousness a spot similar wine, it gets amended arsenic it ages, truthful yeah, I consciousness similar a spot of a good vino astatine the moment."
Drink it in. You've earned it.
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