Not from a return to the drinking that had been part of his derailment in the aftermath of Tokyo. But talking late into the night with his face swollen from all the tears, he likened his look to that of the recipient of multiple bee stings and anticipated feeling emotionally hungover.
Will he reflect on what might have been after he was touched out of a hattrick of gold medals in the 100m breaststroke by just two-hundredths of a second? Will the loss act as further motivation to keep him in the sport and target the Los Angeles Olympics? And what does his coaching future look like, with Mel Marshall heading to Australia for a new post?
These are questions for another day. The 29-year-old’s primary concern was to have a debrief on his race and get well again, given he was nursing a sore throat and cough, and barely able to speak at the end of his press duties at the Paris La Defense Arena.
But he was adamant his sickness was no excuse to why he had swum a second slower than he had done at the Olympic trials and why his time, 59.05sec, was so slow, considering he was the first man to break into the 57sec and then 56sec barrier.
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