{"id":385993,"date":"2024-04-18T03:54:22","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T03:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=385993"},"modified":"2024-04-18T06:04:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T06:04:12","slug":"gutting-blow-olympic-champ-needed-to-fire-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=385993","title":{"rendered":"Gutting blow Olympic champ 'needed' to fire in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gold Coast:<\/strong> Australian Olympic<\/a> gold medallist\ufeff Zac Stubblety-Cook admits last year's world championship campaign, in which he failed to retain his 200m breaststroke title and lost his world record, delivered the motivational stimulus he needed.<\/p>\n

By the reckoning of Australian swimming<\/a> great Giaan Rooney<\/a>, the disappointing Fukuoka campaign was "the best thing" for Stubblety-Cook because it "relit the fire in the belly".<\/p>\n

\ufeffThe 25-year-old Brisbane product is on the Gold Coast this week for the Australian swimming championships, at which he won the 100m breaststroke title with a time of 59.85 seconds on Wednesday night. He will contest the 200m breaststroke final on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Olympic champion McKeown breaks 14-year Aussie record\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'A different person': How Tokyo heroics changed McKeon\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Rooney's bold gold rush call as Aussies eye Paris\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Stubblety-Cook won the 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He then further stamped his authority in the event by breaking the world record in 2022, clocking 2:05.95.<\/p>\n

But at last year's world titles, he finished second to Qin Haiyang, and his Chinese rival stopped the clock at 2:05.48 to snatch away his world record.<\/p>\n

\"Zac<\/p>\n

"I think it's probably what I needed, if I'm being honest. You get to the top and you get a little bit complacent. I don't know if complacent is the right word; it's more just comfortable. I think you get comfortable in the routine and a bit numb with racing at a high level," Stubblety-Cook told media at the national titles.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian\ufeff Open Championships live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"This year and last year it's been really good to have a bit more hunger.<\/p>\n

"Paris<\/a> gets closer and closer every day. That's always been the emphasis \u2014 the big game.<\/p>\n

"I don't think I'd be in this position if I didn't love a challenge. It's as simple as that. I've always loved the challenge and I've loved the pressure and I've loved those big occasions\ufeff and I'm excited for Paris."<\/p>\n

Stubblety-Cook is competing at the national championships on the back of a high-altitude camp at Flagstaff, Arizona.<\/p>\n

He's expected to feature in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, 4x100m medley and 4x100m mixed medley at the Paris Games.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"\ufeffHe really didn't like being beaten last year [at the world championships], and I like that," Rooney told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"He is a very quiet, unassuming champion, and I think the best thing happened that he got beaten last year. It relit the fire in the belly … It gives that extra emphasis in his training not to back off, and a slight, extra hunger."<\/p>\n

\"Zac<\/p>\n

Rooney said she could "see it all over his face" in Fukuoka that he\ufeff "did not like being beaten".<\/p>\n

"And that's what you want," Rooney said.<\/p>\n

"It would only spur him on.<\/p>\n

"Zac's said this in an interview where I've interviewed him; the first Olympic gold medal is unbelievable, but then it turns to, 'I want to prove it wasn't a fluke, I want to prove I can be an incredibly consistent athlete that can find the right gear when needed'. I think he's got a little bit of redemption to find after last year, but also the burning desire to be a defending Olympic gold medallist."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gold Coast: Australian Olympic gold medallist\ufeff Zac Stubblety-Cook admits last year's world championship campaign, in which he failed to retain his 200m breaststroke title and […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":385995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385993"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=385993"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385998,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385993\/revisions\/385998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/385995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=385993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=385993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=385993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}