“Australia straight-up cheated”: Why the US are not happy with our swimmers
At a time when Australians were thankful to have something to be happy about it was all topped off by one of the last performances – the women’s 4 x 100m medley relay where we won gold.
Kaylee McKeown (backstroke), Chelsea Hodges (breaststroke), Emma McKeon (butterfly) and Cate Campbell (freestyle) beat the United States for first place in a thrilling finish in an Olympic-record time of 3:51.60.
Hodges received huge praise for her incredible second leg, then McKeon and Campbell brought it home in what could possibly be one of the most memorable performances we’ve seen in the pool in Tokyo.
Back at home in Australia, everyone was very impressed but the Americans were quick to point out some points of contention.
Some American sports fans complained that Campbell’s reaction time in leaving the block after Emma McKeon’s touch was too quick but it was 0.04 seconds which is inside the legal allowed time given.
There was never more than 0.55 seconds between Australia and the United States during the final, and sizzling swims from McKeon and Campbell were needed to see Australia grasp the lead from their greatest rivals in the last 15 metres.
If you consider the fact Australia won the race by 0.13 seconds, it could be argued Campbell’s well-timed start ultimately proved the difference.
Campbell has spoken about the moment saying: “I saw a number one next to our names and I thought, ‘oh, my goodness, that’s incredible’,” Campbell told Channel 7.
“I looked up and the girls were celebrating and I thought ‘my changeover was very quick, we’ve either just won an Olympic gold medal or we’ve just been disqualified’.
“So, I was like we have to wait until the results are official. And they were official and we are Olympic gold medallists.”
But the Americans on social media did not agree: “Australia straight up cheated. You can see on the replay the last swimmer jumped way before her tm8 touched the wall. Should have been a DQ. Shameful,” Twitter user Brian O’Cleary posted.
“Australia woman cheated on that 4\100 medley that last woman was jumping in the water before the teammate touched the wall no wonder they got an Olympic record,” another American wrote on the site. “The USA woman won gold in my eyes. Great race.”
These complaints aside, the result was a huge win for the Australian Olympic team. It gave Australia nine swimming gold medals in Tokyo — our most successful performance ever at an Olympics, surpassing the eight gold medals won by our swimmers at the 1956 Melbourne Games.
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