(Reuters) -Kaylee McKeown won gold in a thrilling 100 metres backstroke final at the world championships in Singapore on Tuesday, but the Australian said she was prouder of the fact that she had faced her fear of failure than winning the race.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist came from behind to overtake rival Regan Smith and touch the wall in a championship-record time of 57.16, beating Smith by 0.19 seconds.
It was a triumphant return to the world championships for McKeown, who had said after the semi-finals on Monday that she had not wanted to compete in the event.
The 24-year-old had also said she was hoping to rediscover her love for the sport in 2025 following a challenging spell during which she took a mental health break shortly after her 100 and 200 backstroke victories at the Paris Olympics.
Asked on Tuesday what it meant to win the gold medal, McKeown said: “I don’t think it necessarily means anything to win.
“I know that sounds bad, but I think what means most to me is being true to myself and being strong and coming to these world championships and not fearing away.
“There were a lot of comments saying that I’m scared to lose but that’s not the case at all.
“If anything, I’m scared to fail myself. I’ve worked really, really hard to get up there tonight and prove to myself that I am a good athlete and swimmer. It doesn’t matter if I come first or last.
“I just didn’t want to keep steering away from fear because the more that you feel fear, it becomes like a monster and you have to chase your demons at some point.”
American Smith said she was content with her performance, especially in light of the illness which swept through the United States team during their training camp in Thailand just before the championships.
“It was a really good execution, and at the end of the day, America as a whole had the odds stacked against us,” she added.
“We had a really unfortunate situation happen to us during a training camp, and I did not think I was going to go for 57.35.
“To come up with a silver, I can’t really control the place of the medal, but what I can control is how fast I swim and how well I can do my race, and I think I did an incredible job, especially under the circumstances.”
Smith and McKeown will renew their rivalry in the 200 backstroke, with the final scheduled to take place on Saturday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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