Commonwealth Games 2010: Fran Halsall feels miserable after losing to a 25 year old Australian
Fran Halsall made it to the second place in the 50 metre freestyle final event in the S.P. Mukherjee Aquatics Complex in New Delhi. Thus, she won her second medal of the Commonwealth Games by losing to a 15 year old Australian swimmer. The young athlete,
Yolane Kukla managed to touch the wall in the time of 24.98 seconds. Meanwhile, the English competitor, Amy Smith just finished the race in the seventh position.
At the European Championships in Budapest in August this year, Halsall had set her season’s record in this particular event. Her season’s best was surpassed by Yolane who finished the race 0.31 seconds earlier than the time taken by Halsall at Budapest,
where she claimed the bronze medal.
In the post race interview, Halsall was overwhelmed by her emotions as she said “I am just really disappointed”. As Yolane went on to celebrate her ultimate success in the 50 metre freestyle event, Halsall went on to say, “I thought I would be good to go
but I just do not have any energy. If I had been well I would have won that.”
Halsall is the silver medallist of the world championships and is currently not feeling well. Some sports analysts argue that it was the illness that kept Halsall from winning the gold medal. As for her illness, Halsall was recorded as saying, “You cannot
choose when you are well or not and unfortunately I got ill two days ago.”
Halsall is one of the athletes who have been victimized by the stomach virus that is prevailing in the Games Village these days. She was absolutely out of breath and powerless at the end of the race. Besides expressing her disappointment at the loss, Halsall
did appreciate herself for handling the race even when she was ill. Halsall also told the correspondents that the toilets of the Aquatics Complex were blocked and that could be one of the reasons that the athletes are falling ill due to stomach aches and diarrhoea.
However, the doctors of the Commonwealth Games Federation and the president, Mike Fennell have declared that the stomach issues are nothing but a ‘Delhi Belly’, something that almost every tourist visiting India gets. Mike Fennell has also assured the team
heads and the athletes that the water of all the swimming pools is keeping with the hygienic standards.
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