Breaking: Australian Sam Short Forced Out of 800 Freestyle Final With Gastrointestinal Illness
Swimming Australia has confirmed that Olympic freestyler Sam Short has stepped down from tonight’s World Championships 800 freestyle final in Singapore due to gastrointestinal illness.
An Australian team spokesman said: “At this stage, there is no clear link to where the illness was contracted and we are continuing to investigate its source. We will also continue to monitor Sam’s condition and it is hoped he will recover in time to compete in Friday’s 4x200m relay. The team’s medical staff has been advising the team on further preventative measures and at this stage, no other Australian swimmer has had their World Championships campaign impacted.”
The 21-year-old, the second fastest qualifier into the final, has been replaced by first reserve, fellow Australian Dolphin, rookie Benjamin Goedemans.
Short, the silver medallist in the men’s 400 freestyle on Night One made an emotional announcement via his Instagram earlier in the day that he had been forced to withdraw after seeking medical advice, writing “sorry Australia.”
“Just wanted to let everyone know that I will not be doing the 800m final tonight after receiving medical advice,” Short wrote on Instagram.
“Extremely emotional after this decision as I was very excited to showcase what I can do and the training I have done! I still believe this is my best race distance and I was ready for a PB.
“After an awesome heat swim which I felt phenomenal, I got very ill very fast, which we believe is food poisoning from my hotel lunch.
“I have only been consuming meals from the hotel. My afternoon and night has been full of vomiting and all the other nasty stuff that comes with food poisoning! Not pleasant and extremely draining.
“I had full intention of competing if I started to show signs of improvement. However, this has not happened. I am going to try my best to recover as well as possible to help my team in the 4×200 relay on Friday. Sorry Australia.”
Short has been dogged with bad luck in recent times, revealing after his silver medal swim behind Germany’s Lukas Martens, that he had suffered a bout of COVID in Australia’s Staging Camp in Darwin.
Rotten luck for Sam.