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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Magnussen said that the second place finished grounded him and prevented him from going down a bad path.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt did affect my life but for the positive,\u201d Magnussen said on SEN 1170 Breakfast<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think my life was headed in a certain direction at 20 years of age.<\/p>\n \u201cI had all this publicity, all this press and everyone was pumping my wheels.<\/p>\n \u201cIt affected me in a negative way and I look back and I was headed down a path that would have been less than desirable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a lot of \u2018yes\u2019 people in my life and around.<\/p>\n \u201cIt had a profoundly positive effect on my life not only in swimming but certainly in my life after sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m appreciative of what that moment did for me and the path it set me on.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Magnussen further added that he has no regrets about his career and used the loss to motivate him in life\u2019s other ventures.<\/p>\n \u201cI look back on it and I ticked off everything in the swimming world except for that Olympic gold,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNot everyone gets a fairy tale but all in all, I\u2019m very appreciative of that moment.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything happens for a reason, and I think I needed that.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n