2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Rio Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin says she is planning to “come back stronger than ever before,” after an underwhelming Olympic Games in Rio.
In a Facebook status on her fan page earlier today, Franklin re-iterated earlier statements, and her comments during the U.S. Olympic Trials, effectively assuring supporters that she is not injured, saying “I understand so very little about this past week, about how many sacrifices and endless hours of hard work would leave me so far behind where I thought I was capable of doing.”
On Twitter, she echoed the sentiment, albeit minding the character limit:
Trusting in the Lord that something BEAUTIFUL will come out of this, and that I will come back stronger than ever! pic.twitter.com/Bi5NmbAM83
— Missy Franklin Johnson (@missyfranklin) August 12, 2016
See the Facebook post embedded below.
As of this post, Franklin is tied for second biggest amount of Olympic golds won by a woman in a single Games with her four from London. Other notable athletes in this tie include Amy Van Dyken (swimming 1996), Agnes Keleti (gymnastics 1956), Vera Caslavska (gymnastics 1968), Larisa Latynina (gymnastics 1956), Ecaterina Szabo (gymnastics 1984), Fanny Blankers-Koen (athletics 1948), and Lidiya Skoblikova (speed skating 1964).
Good for her! Now she should take a year off and have herself medically checked out for health problems due too overtraining.
I’ve seen her swim since she was in 8th grade in CO. She’s a great person but needs change.
1) leave Colorado. What worked with your parents and Todd at 17 was special. It was majic. But it won’t work again. The experiment failed. Move out of your parents house. Leave Todd. You are 21. You need to spread your wings.
2) take time off. See a sports psych.
3) enroll at Cal as a nunior. Be a student. Have fun. Get an apartment. Get a roommate. Have a glass of wine. Don’t swim for a year.
4) swim with Durden’s group when you are a senior. continue to have fun. Graduate. Be proud. Berkeley is… Read more »
Missy:
Listen to me…all this stuff above is nonsense.
Have a conservation with Coach Salo and finish your degree at USC!
Why would she want to attend the University of Spoiled Children?
She’s a Golden Bear, why lower herself?
Missy,
Take heed of all of the above advice, except for #5
Missy can represent Canada, doesn’t she?
Things didn’t work out this time. What a true sportsperson! Hope Missy bounces back and gives it a whirl again, as long as the reward of representing the USA in international competition is fun and rewarding. If she gives it an honorable effort, she can hold her head high and look anyone in the eye and know deep in her heart that she’s a champion. There are a lot of former NCAA champions, AAU and USA Swimming champions, and, yes, even world record holders that have never even won an Olympic medal of any kind – much less five! Missy’s won more gold medals in just two Olympic Games than most most countries have probably won in the last half… Read more »
“I understand so very little about this past week, about how many sacrifices and endless hours of hard work would leave me so far behind where I thought I was capable of doing.”
The first step is to figure it out. Otherwise, the comeback isn’t going to happen. It could be something as simple as having tried to hard in every set she did, which can actually result in overtraining. It could be something medical, like undiagnosed anemia. It could be that the back injury is still affecting he more than she realizes. It could be anything.
It wasn’t all that long ago she went that very promising 1:39 for the 200 free at NCAA’s. What’s happened since then?… Read more »
Missy, God is trying to tell you something and you aren’t listening
wow..
Huh?
Its possible that Missy can rebound. It has happened before. But it will require a bunch of changes.
As I said in Summer 2012, it was a massive risk for Missy to swim in college. She cost herself easily $5-$10mm. Life changing money. Now she has to deal with the consequences.
I hope she makes the rebound because she is an amazing person, a great swimming ambassador and a very talented woman. Would be awesome to see her get back to form and win in Tokyo.
But let this be a lesson for people who extrapolate results….take the life changing money when you can. She was BY FAR the most marketable swimmer after London. And she gave that up… Read more »
Some people actually value a college education and want the chance to experience the team atmosphere at the NCAA level, so saying that it was a mistake for her to go to college is wrong.
Do you know that you can actually get an excellent college education without having to swim NCAA?
What does her financial situation have to do with her swimming performance? For the last 15 months she trained at the same place, with the same coach, as she did in London. So you can’t blame college swimming for this. Taking the money back then would not have made her swim faster in Rio!
As for the finances, I actually don’t think that the money she could have made around 2012 is as “life changing” as one might think. She’s probably already made millions since she turned pro. So she could have been more of a multi-millionaire than she is, but she’s probably a multi-millionaire anyway. She’s still a pro swimmer on the US national team. She still has her… Read more »
Right before Missy passed on the money to swim in college, there were a couple ladies who passed on college, and it didn’t pan out. There are examples both ways. Additionally, based solely on interviews, Missy’s parents have been successful, and she doesn’t exactly need money. I think her decision to not turn pro is fully justified. She got an education at a top university, in addition to the college swimming experience.
Missy has been in quite a few commercials during this Olympic coverage. Maybe she hasn’t been on the podium, but I’m thinking she is still cashing checks bigger than most of us posting on this site.
Missy, God is not done with you yet! Read Joshua 1:9 “Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” HE will NEVER leave you or forsake you!
If Missy bounces back it will have nothing to do with imaginary friends in the sky.