Chad Le Clos: Comeback king | Carte Blanche | M-Net

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟰 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰.
At the age of 19, Chad Le Clos did the unthinkable – at the 2012 London Olympics, he edged ahead of one of the world’s greatest swimmers, Michael Phelps, to win the 200-metre butterfly sprint and take home the gold medal. And he didn’t stop there… For eight years, he blazed a trail through the sporting world, becoming South Africa’s most decorated Olympian. Then, everything changed. At the Tokyo Olympics, Chad crashed out of the competition and into a downward spiral. Battling his own private demons, he struggled to regain his competitive edge. But he refused to give up. Spurred on by his supportive family and his coaching team, he’s now preparing for the this year’s Paris Olympics. And he’s more determined than ever before to regain his Olympic glory.

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It’s the ultimate test for many of the world’s Elite athletes a single-minded quest for a gold medal that’s unachievable without significant sacrifice this year’s Olympic Games take place in Paris and are the culmination of years of grueling physical and emotional toil for the participants it doesn’t take much to imagine the

Psychological pressure that brings it’s enough to crack even the most experienced and gifted athletes as our very own swimming sensation Chad lllo will tell you Alla caught up with the Olympic hopeful who’s fighting past demons but determined to ensure his place in history I just love to win it’s a

Shocking upset you never judge a man’s character for how he celebrates Victory you judge him for wi his backs against the wall saw chadler fading in the final St even in my darkest hour there was still a small I just can’t it going the CL and the T are closing it’s going to

Be close it’s that moment of being the king of the world you Know I have unfinished Business every four years athletes from around the world converge to take part in the Olympic Games over 15,000 athletes from more than 200 countries compete to turn lifelong dreams into reality for themselves for their countries becoming an Olympian or world champion requires hours of dedication and hard work sometimes it means having

To step away from the sports that you love in order to make the ultimate comeback it’s been on and off it’s an early Saturday morning in Peter Marburg kzn and we’re joining Olympic go old medal swimmer and former world record holder Chad lllo on a training session

He’s preparing for the next games in Paris later this year and it’s a rare opportunity to see the dedication demanded of top athletes wow Chad that’s a incredible commitment what time do you usually get started hey I’m always up before on that’s a lot of dedication a lot of

Commitment is this the comeback I’m back baby let’s get it let’s get it When I close my eyes at night I can’t help but think about the Olympic Games I want to make sure that I’m at my best at the Olympic Games and uh you know fourth Olympics and hopefully bring back

Another medal or two with four Olympic medals to his name Chad is our country’s most decorated swimmer but his hopes of adding to that tally and to his reputation suffered a blow at the 2021 games in Tokyo Japan he couldn’t crack a Podium finish and returned home without

A single medal it was the beginning of what he now considers the darkest period of his life this year’s Olympics in the French Capital offers a chance at Redemption a chance for Chad to regain his rightful place among the sports greats this comeback Trail how difficult is it I have

Unfinished business that I want to do you know I want to go down as one of the greats I really want my name to be remembered in 20 years’s time I want them to put me up there with the fules with the marks with Ian Thorp when to

Finally hang up the goggles I wanted to be he is number one through to the final here he’s had some great form Chad first stand the World by winning Olympic gold and silver at the 2012 games in London at just 19 the Highlight an incredible 200 M butterfly race in which American

Swimming Legend Michael Phelps was the hot favorite I think Destiny was was calling that day it was everything that I dreamed of as a kid Chase facing his 15th Olympic title Phelps LED for the first 150 M significantly ahead of Chad I was swimming that race I thought I was

Michael fops a little bitel in third place on the final turn things weren’t looking good for Chad but he rallied to close the gap on the American and with just 5 m to go the unthinkable it’s going to be close philps is hanging on he’s a winner does

He touch he doesn’t lllo touched because Philip’s got it wrong on the line it’s unbelievable I beat him at his own game I was the only person in history still to this day to have ever beaten him in his own game the 200 butterfly and this man wins Chad lllo oh unbelievable

Unbelievable thanks Great Britain with his advisor and biggest fan his dad proudly watching on a South African hero was born oh goly you look just like your dad as a child Chad first battled a deep-seated fear of water before starting swimming at the age of 10 his

Father Bert was his first coach Bert his life’s still unbelievable thing you had to get young Chad out to the swimming pool uh as a youngster didn’t like it bowled his eyes out um and I’m pretty sure at that stage you weren’t thinking this kid has got a a

Long future swimming what are you talking about he was playing soccer soccer is his first life he was playing soccer he never touched the ball I said my boy I don’t want to tell you but the reality of it all is you’re a better stronger than you a soccer

Player recognizing his Olympic potential at just 14 when he secured a spot on the country’s senior national team Chad’s mom Jerry quit her job to fully support his journey it is a full-time job yeah yeah being an Olympic mom absolutely he was very young Chad when he took the

World by storm he was uh World Champs at 19 Olympics at 20 yeah I had a nto5 job it just you know got out of hand so Chad needs a structure around him where he has to concentrate on swimming and like I do the paperwork you know uh Bert does

Other stuff getting to the games then and now means a rigorous training regimen with extended hours in the pool and focused strength exercises his routines involve precise technique drills endurance laps and specialized workouts all aimed at optimizing speed and stamina now based in Frankfurt Germany and with a new coach he’s not leaving

Anything to chance it comes down to taking care of your body I sometimes forget that I am 31 and I want to just still train at that high level of intensity every day with with these youngsters but unfortunately I I actually can’t keep that going I got to be smart with my

Recovery and and the way that I approach things being an Olympian extends beyond the physical it’s about navigating pressure and shouldering the weight of expectations after his disappointing Olympic showing in Tokyo Chad battel psychological demons the worst time for me was was definitely off Olympics tell

You this is the truth I was completely depressed Shadow CL Fading Into fifth but he’ll be happy just to have been in the final I got Fifth and I was like should have medled no one’s going to know the the demons that I had to fight they’re just going to see the Result he sank deeper and deeper into depression and soon was spiraling out of control 3 days before the World Championships I went I took to a party when I got completely wasted completely wasted had to I just had to had to numb myself from life it’s a sad reality of where I was

At that stage of my life there just bad results was it just wasn’t me on top of the podium on the midle stage it’s the hardest thing as a parent to see your child unhappy or suffering going through some mental health issues was tough on the family Bert kept on telling them

Chad phone the psychologist phone the psychologist and you need to do that sooner rather than later Chad finally sought the professional help he needed undergoing months of intensive therapy I said you know Chad I’m so flipping proud of you because you’ve evolved you becoming a man because of of your attitude to a

Problem my dad always just taught me you know just never give up put your head down give your B best and that took a lot of psychology to get that right just a tough time for me got right thankfully and and I think I started to see that

The results you know in the pool would get better also said hey I’m going to be I’m going to be a world champion double world champion in this race while Olympic gold remains a priority he’s passionate about his work with the chadler CL Foundation teaching swimming and water safety to

Underprivileged communities push off the wall as hard as you can when you’re underwater it also supports aspiring young swimmers in kzn what is the foundation all about we have the highest deaths from dring in sou Africa can you believe that in the world so my goal is

To teach water safety to help the intermediate swimmers break into that first team to have more numbers registered swimmers in the next 5 years we have 3 and a half thousand I believe 10,000 is easily achievable by the next Olympic cycle after losing his his way in 2021 he bounced back with an

Incredible performance at the 2022 World Championships in Melbourne Australia where Against All Odds he won Gold in both the 100 and 200 M butterfly and he’s surging towards the gold medal here Chad L what a performance with the Paris Olympics just months away Chad is ready to secure his

Legacy in what could be one of the most remarkable sporting comebacks ever it’s that moment of being a king of the world you know on top of the podium hearing the anthem taking your lap of Honor with the flag is nothing better than that you know I can tell you

Honestly that’s the drug I’m chasing still 12 years later thanks for watching why not drop us a comment below we love reading your opinions remember you can now access cart blanch stories anytime anywhere even offline cart blanch the podcast is now available on all major podcast platforms so be sure to hit that

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