Magnussen ‘appreciative’ of losing Olympic gold

FORMER Olympian swimmer James Magnussen has revealed that narrowly missing out on the gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics was one of the best things to happen in his life.

The 31-year-old swimmer was the hot favourite to take the gold in the event after he became the first Australian man to win the 100-metre freestyle at the World Swimming championships in 2011 but finished second by one-hundredth of a second behind American Nathan Adrian.

Magnussen said that the second place finished grounded him and prevented him from going down a bad path.

“It did affect my life but for the positive,” Magnussen said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.

“I think my life was headed in a certain direction at 20 years of age.

“I had all this publicity, all this press and everyone was pumping my wheels.

“It affected me in a negative way and I look back and I was headed down a path that would have been less than desirable.

“It humbled me a lot (losing out on the gold) and that gave me a really different perspective on life, the media and how people were treating me.

“I had a lot of ‘yes’ people in my life and around.

“It had a profoundly positive effect on my life not only in swimming but certainly in my life after sport.

“I’m appreciative of what that moment did for me and the path it set me on.”

Despite the Olympic heartbreak, Magnussen went on to have a distinguished career in the pool as he bounced back in 2013 to defend his world championships crown and won his first Commonwealth Games Gold medal in Glasgow.

Magnussen further added that he has no regrets about his career and used the loss to motivate him in life’s other ventures.

“I look back on it and I ticked off everything in the swimming world except for that Olympic gold,” he said.

“Not everyone gets a fairy tale but all in all, I’m very appreciative of that moment.

“Everything happens for a reason, and I think I needed that.”

– BY CHARLES GOODSIR/ SEN