Sports
Chad le Clos Falls Short at Paris Olympics
Chad le Clos, the well-known South African swimmer, faced a tough setback at the Paris Olympics on Friday morning. He was unable to qualify for the semi-finals in the men’s 100m butterfly event, finishing his heat in a time of 52.24 seconds.
This performance placed him 24th overall, falling short of the top 16 that were needed to advance to the semi-finals. This marks a significant moment as it is the first Olympics in four appearances where he hasn’t made it to at least one final. In the previous Games, held in Tokyo, he placed fifth in the 200m butterfly event.
Le Clos, who is now 32 years old, came into the Olympics with an injury that he sustained just weeks ago when a child jumped into the water in front of him during a swim. Despite hoping for a better outcome, he admitted that the last part of his race was very challenging.
“On my best day, that would have been hard to make the final,” he said. “I came here to compete and not just to participate. This isn’t what I wanted, but I expected it given the circumstances,” added Le Clos, who seemed to remain optimistic despite his disappointment.
He shared that he needs to focus on rehabilitation to recover from his neck and shoulder injury. Looking ahead, Le Clos is considering participating in the world short-course championships in Budapest set for December.
Even with this setback, he’s proud of the career he has had and isn’t ready to give up on swimming just yet. “The boys will have to put a few more arrows in me before I stop,” he joked, showing his determination to keep going in the sport.
In the same heat as Le Clos, Matthew Sates also did not qualify, finishing seventh with a time of 54.53 seconds. Meanwhile, Rebecca Meder had more luck as she moved on to the semifinals in the 200m individual medley, squeezing into the competition in 16th place.
Meder expressed mixed feelings about her performance, saying, “I’m not happy with the time, but I’ve been training hard.” After her long wait to race, she shared that competing felt like a relief.
