Emma McKeon added to her mountain of world titles on Thursday night time and located her eyes welling with tears of pleasure within the aftermath.
Because the five-time Olympic gold medallist soaked up victory within the girls’s 100m freestyle on the World Brief Course Championships in Melbourne, she revealed the presence of her grandparents within the crowd left her crying through the medal presentation.
“It means loads,” McKeon mentioned in a pool-side interview with Ariarne Titmus on 9.
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“I really simply noticed them for the primary time through the presentation then and … I used to be crying a little bit bit, so I simply needed to look away.
“It is simply so particular to have them right here.
“They have not watched me race for in all probability 4 years now in particular person.
“So, to have this occasion on of their dwelling city … (they have been) my motivation for doing it.
“They’re my No.1 supporters and at all times have been, so I wished to verify I may do a superb job for them tonight.”
McKeon gained the 100m freestyle in a thriller, edging Hong Kong’s Siobhan Bernadette Haughey by 0.10 of a second.
The 28-year-old stopped the clock at 50.77 to interrupt the championship document.
Emotional McKeon reveals tears after golden swim
The Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen secured bronze and Australia’s Madi Wilson completed in fourth.
McKeon hailed the group as “superior”.
“A packed stand, it is a dream come true, actually, for us athletes to have the ability to race in entrance of a house crowd with a full stand,” McKeon mentioned.
“And such as you mentioned, clearly it is me within the pool doing the laps after I’m racing, however I’ve bought an enormous staff behind me. My household’s a part of that, my coach is a part of that and I am so fortunate to have them with me on a regular basis.”
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