Triple Olympic Gold Medalist Stephanie Rice aims for gold at World Championship
Australian swimmer, Stephanie Rice is strongly motivated to win the gold medal at the World Championship this year.
“World championship is something I’ve never won before, so obviously I'd like to tick that one off,” she said.
The World Championship will be held in Shanghai, China in July.
Rice has also confirmed her participation at the London Olympics next year. She said that she is fit enough to perform well for her swimming team at both the events.
Rice said, “It doesn't really bother me for my Olympic preparation whether I win or don't, because I look at where I was a year out of Beijing and I was coming third in both of the medleys”.
Rice said she was feeling much better after her shoulder surgery last year, but at the same time was not feeling as energetic and vibrant as she did during her hard training period.
Rice is one of the most popular Australian women swimmers; she performed remarkably well at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning 3 golds. Though she is not as fit as she has been since her triple gold medal triumph, Rice insists anything is possible.
The 22-year old is currently participating in the New South Wales state titles in Sydney. This will be her major appearance before the National Championships to be held in April, and will be a trial run for the World Championship.
She retained the second spot in the 400m individual medley against her competitor Natalie Wiegersma on Friday night at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
The Queenslander said she was not upset by her loss.
“Finishing second at an international meet stings but at NSW states everyone is at a different training phase. You can't really compare individual to individual until it's really down to the nail where you want to make teams and you want to perform well.”
Rice is the winner of the 2009 Medal of the Order of Australia and 2008 Telstra Australian Swimmer of the Year.
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