Swimming large Kieren Perkins has warned Kyle Chalmers of the difficulties of defending an Olympic golden medal, 25 years aft helium produced 1 of this country's astir memorable sporting moments.
With Mack Horton failing to suffice for the 400m freestyle, Chalmers is the lone Australian defending an idiosyncratic golden medal successful the excavation this clip around.
It was a script that confronted Perkins successful Atlanta successful 1996, having taken golden successful the 1500m successful Barcelona 4 years earlier.
While Chalmers has endured a disrupted mentation for Tokyo courtesy of the raging pandemic that each athletes are dealing with, Perkins had a nightmare lead-up of his ain making for the 1996 Games.
He missed enactment for the 400m freestyle, contempt being the reigning satellite grounds holder and metallic medallist from 1992. While helium made the squad for the 1500m, helium struggled truthful severely successful the Atlanta Games heats helium lone made it into the last arsenic the eighth-fastest qualifier.
In a aquatics that has been etched into Olympics folklore, Perkins, from lane eight, produced a comeback of Lazarus proportions to instrumentality the golden medal, starring location Daniel Kowalski successful an Australian 1-2.
Now the president of Swimming Australia, Perkins said his mindset successful defending a rubric had been acold removed from 4 years earlier successful Barcelona.
"It's a precise antithetic experience. You'll perceive this from athletes successful immoderate sport, but the large quality is the archetypal 1 is overmuch easier than the 2nd oregon third," helium told Wide World of Sports.
"The much you person to defend, the harder and harder it gets.
"When you're the huntsman you've got thing to purpose for, thing to pursue, benchmarks to scope and interruption through. When you're the leader, it tin beryllium casual to suffer absorption and direction."
Olympics dreams are made oregon shattered by the barest of margins. Had Perkins' vigor clip of 15:21.42 been conscionable a 4th of a 2nd slower, helium would person missed the Atlanta last altogether, with Germany's Steffen Zesner lining up successful lane 8 instead.
"At the Olympic level, the quality betwixt a golden medal and not making the last is measured successful milliseconds," Perkins explained.
"I surely went done it, and you spot a batch of different athletes spell done it arsenic well. I deliberation wherever it's much acutely evident is the information the Olympics are erstwhile each 4 years, oregon 5 years successful this case.
"There's plentifulness of large athletes who vie successful sports wherever they person yearly opportunities, they get the feedback precise rapidly if they're losing direction.
"But you tin suffer a twelvemonth oregon 2 successful an Olympic mentation without getting that reminder to get your caput down."
Losing absorption is thing Perkins is precise conscious of. He attributes his struggles successful the lead-up to Atlanta to a nonaccomplishment of absorption arsenic acold backmost arsenic 1994.
"Coming retired of the 1994 satellite championships and Commonwealth Games, I started reasoning solely astir the Olympic last successful 1996," helium said.
"In the lead-up to beauteous overmuch each conscionable earlier then, each day, each week, each month, I had a conscionable oregon immoderate level of contention to absorption on.
"Then I had a two-year spread to Atlanta. I started focusing connected this last that was successful the distant future, arsenic opposed to contiguous and what I needed to bash close now.
"As a consequence, I conscionable wasn't moving astatine the aforesaid level of strength that I had previously."
Perkins explains that the trouble of remaining focused connected the Olympics has been magnified this clip around, pursuing the 12-month hold caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the commencement of 2020, the Games were conscionable six months away, earlier the determination was taken to postpone them until 2021.
The dual Olympic golden medallist noted that those who haven't been fazed by disruptions and setbacks volition apt radiance successful Tokyo.
"You've got to beryllium capable to absorption connected what you tin control," helium said.
"Our athletes successful Tokyo volition beryllium tested regularly and wearing masks each the time, they're going to person to prosecute successful a process that is precise antithetic to what an Olympics would usually beryllium like.
"You tin get frustrated and annoyed by that and let it to disrupt you, oregon you tin judge it, recognise that it is what it is, and absorption connected what you tin bash to negociate it.
"When you've got 8 finalists lasting connected the blocks for an Olympic final, however they've handled the disruptions volition beryllium a important defining origin betwixt the victor and the losers."
Having competed astatine 3 Olympics and attended 4 others, Perkins knows amended than astir that each Games is different.
Whether that beryllium the clime of the big country, the culture, adjacent the layout of the Olympic village, each Games is unique. But the 47-year-old says the rookies whitethorn really person an vantage this clip around.
"If this is your archetypal Olympics, you don't cognize immoderate better," helium explained.
"You're not going to beryllium peculiarly perturbed by it, whereas those athletes who person been before, those differences volition beryllium truly acute for them.
"There's astir apt a higher hazard of the differences being a antagonistic power connected the returning athletes."
Describing himself somewhat modestly arsenic "just a washed-up aged swimmer", Perkins is much than blessed to stock his extended acquisition with today's stars.
"I'd similar to deliberation there's lessons determination for the existent squad but it's 1 of the inexorable truths of clip that we're talking 25 years ago! That's a truly agelong clip ago, particularly erstwhile you're talking to young athletes," helium laughed.
"I'm definite our coaches and athletes person got much modern examples they tin gully from."
Pressed for a prediction for Tokyo, Perkins hinted that this year's Games volition propulsion up much surprises than normal.
"The inescapable truth, of course, is that this mentation has been truthful antithetic from thing that we've seen before, truthful much than accustomed we won't cognize wherever we basal until contention is underway," helium said.
"That's ever the lawsuit for an Olympics, but adjacent much truthful this clip around."
For a regular dose of the champion of the breaking quality and exclusive contented from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
English (US) ·