The 2020 Olympics will be without one of their defending champions.
Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel missed out on the finals of the 100 freestyle by 0.02 last night, touching in at a time of 54.17 to place ninth.
The sprint freestyler sat down in a press conference after the race to detail what happened, describing how her training has been hampered with a diagnosis of overtraining syndrome which forced her to take three weeks off at the end of March.
“The one thing I have processed is that I am proud of myself and I did everything I possibly could’ve done to set myself up to be my very best at this meet,” she said. “And that 54 – I don’t even know what the time was — was as best as I could be today and in this moment. That’s a tough pill to swallow and I think what makes it easier to swallow is I really went out there and did my best.
“To sit here and even be able to do what I did and to be at this meet is something that I can’t take lightly.”
She also revealed that following the conclusion of competition this summer, she will be taking several months off of training. That could come after Trials or after the Olympics, as she still stands a chance of making the team in the 50 free.
You can watch the full press conference below.