A cardinal emotions could beryllium moving done an athlete's caput aft being pipped for a golden medal, peculiarly by a countrywoman - but for Cate Campbell, it was lone elation for some herself, and for teammate Emma McKeon.
Just seconds aft McKeon touched the partition to unafraid gold, and Campbell bronze successful the 100m freestyle, the brace embraced successful the water.
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"Emma! You won, I'm truthful arrogant of you," Campbell exclaimed arsenic the cameras fixated connected the two.
For Campbell, it was a infinitesimal of restitution for her relay partner, and it summed up the selfless cognition she has ever shown arsenic an jock and a teammate.
The beauteous infinitesimal touched Australia.
For Campbell it was besides a fantastic mode to exorcise the demons of Rio 5 years ago, erstwhile she failed to medal successful this lawsuit aft going successful arsenic the favourite.
After mounting a caller satellite grounds successful the 100m freestyle earlier successful 2016, Campbell blitzed the tract successful the heats and semi-finals, breaking the Olympic grounds successful some swims.
But successful the final, she finished astir fractional a 2nd slower than her semi-final effort and finished sixth, arsenic Canada's Penny Oleksiak and American Simone Manuel some touched the partition astatine the nonstop aforesaid clip and divided the golden medal.
"This is my 4th Olympics, but it's lone my 2nd idiosyncratic medal - it honestly means the satellite to me," she said aft the race.
But it seemed similar her idiosyncratic triumphs were enactment to the side, specified was her excitement for McKeon, who unneurotic won golden successful the 4 x 100m relay.
"I'm truthful blessed for Emma, seeing her get up, and I'm truthful gladsome there's going to beryllium an Australian nationalist anthem going done the stadium and I'm truthful gladsome that I get to beryllium connected the podium and stock that infinitesimal with her."
Campbell began tearing up during her post-race interview, wherever you could spot however overmuch securing this medal meant to her.
"Coming successful to this morning's performance, I truly wanted to enactment guardant my champion performance, and that is beauteous overmuch a season's best. To bash that successful an Olympic last disconnected a very, precise challenging twelvemonth that I've had, I'm truly blessed and emotions are going to commencement to get the amended of me," she said done tears.
"It's been a truly agelong travel to get here, and I'm incredibly arrogant of that perofmance. These aren't bittersweet tears astatine all.
"I'm truthful thrilled and I conscionable privation to convey everyone who stood down me, and got maine to this point, due to the fact that I couldn't person done it without them."
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