Photo: Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty
Minutes after tearing his swimming shorts at theTokyo Olympics, Hungarian swimmer Kristof Milak came upjust short in his attempt at setting a new world record.
The 21-year-old was hoping to break his own world record in the 200-meter butterfly final on Wednesday but said a tear in his shorts caused him to become distracted leading up to the race.
“They split 10 minutes before I entered the pool and in that moment I knew the world record was gone. I lost my focus and knew I couldn’t do it,” Milak told theBBC.
But, as Milak explained, he wanted to break his world record (1:50:73), which he set in 2019, during his Olympic race at the Tokyo Aquatics Center on Wednesday.
“It was a problem for me. I have a routine, a rhythm, a focus. This broke my focus and that problem impacted my time,” he told the outlet. “I wasn’t swimming for the medal, I was swimming for the time.”
“I said earlier I wanted a personal best,” he continued. “And my personal best is a world record.”
Despite taking home the gold, Milak won’t be keeping his ripped shorts as a souvenir.
“I still have them,” he told reporters of when he plans to throw them away, according to theAssociated Press. “But it’s just a matter of time.”
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“It was my worst nightmare happening at the Olympics,” Papadakis said at the time. “It happened in the first few seconds [of the routine]. I told myself I didn’t have a choice; I have to keep going.”
“I think we should be proud we were able to deliver a strong performance with that happening. I felt it right away, and then I prayed. That is about all I could do.”
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.
source: people.com
