Olympic champion and six-time Commonwealth Games medalist Kaylee McKeown has been forced to medically withdraw from the upcoming Games in Glasgow, less than two weeks before the start of competition.
McKeown – one of the greatest players of all time and a five-time Olympic gold medalist – announced his retirement in an op-ed written in Daily Telegraph Friday morning after blood tests confirmed he had thyroid fever.
The 24-year-old’s withdrawal is a major blow to Australia’s swimming team in Glasgow, with McKeown winning the women’s 100m and 200m at the 2022 Games in Birmingham and swimming as part of the team that won gold in the 4x100m medley relay and the 4x100m medley medley.
She also won a silver medal in the women’s 200m individual medley and a bronze in the 50m backstroke.
McKeown said the news would come as a shock to his Dolphins teammates – many of whom would have learned of his withdrawal at the same time as the Australian public. He has also withdrawn from the Pan Pacific Championships in California next month.
“What I thought a few months ago was a fever turned out to be my body fighting thyroid fever, and everything makes sense now,” McKeown said.
“Being short of breath and tired just after getting warm easily, not being able to eat, feeling tired all the time, insomnia and falling asleep. But the main thing for me was this: sleeping for hours and waking up feeling like I didn’t sleep at all.
“I was swimming at times I hadn’t seen since I was 13 years old and struggling with weights I would normally lift easily.
“Still, I kept pushing myself, convincing myself that I was in a hole and that if I worked hard, I would eventually find my way out. But deep down, I knew something was wrong. My body wasn’t just tired – I felt like it was trying to tell me something, and I was refusing to listen.”
More to come
Billie Eder is a sports reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect through X or email address.
