Once-Banned Shayna Jack Earns Redemption With 100 Free Olympic Bid

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2024 AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC TRIALS

Monday, June 10th – Saturday, June 15th
Brisbane Aquatic Center – Brisbane, Australia
Prelims at 11am local/9pm previous day ET; Finals at 7:30pm local/5:30am ET
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One of the most highly-anticipated events at the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials unfolded in brisk fashion as the women’s 100m free gave us a glimpse into the speedy weapons in the nation’s arsenal.

4 out of the top 10 best-ever performers worldwide were among the pack, one of whom was 25-year-old Shayna Jack.

After capturing the 2nd seed out of the morning heats with a swim of 52.65, Jack added slightly in the final to maintain her runner-up position.

Jack ultimately got to the wall in 52.72, with Mollie O’Callaghan grabbing the top slot in 52.33. They both easily cleared the Olympic Qualification Time to earn individual bids in this event for next month’s Games in Paris.

While O’Callaghan’s victory now adds this 100m free as the megastar’s 3rd individual event among her Olympic repertoire, Jack’s performance represents her first individual event qualification and her first-ever Olympic appearance.

The accomplishment caps off a horrendous past few years for the athlete, as she is on a redemption journey since having served a 2-year ban for testing positive for banned substance Ligandrol.

Jack’s nightmare began in 2019 when, just days before the start of that year’s World Championships in Gwangju, she was unexpectedly pulled from the nation’s squad.

Her positive results were then made public, about which at the time Jack said, “I’m not going to stop until I prove my innocence. I’ll fight to get myself back into the pool because that’s my dream.”

In 2020, Jack’s original 4-year suspension was reduced to 2 years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with the organization determining the athlete did not intentionally ingest the substance.

Her suspension was backdated to July 2019 and lifted in July 2021, meaning she had no time left to qualify for the postponed 2020 Olympic Games.

Since then, Jack has been steadily rising among the Aussie women’s sprinting ranks, beginning with the 2021 Queensland Championships.

She helped Australia win gold in the 4x100m free relay and silver in the mixed medley relay at the 2022 World Championships.

A year later in Fukuoka, the St. Peters Western star earned individual silver in the 50m free along with a quartet of relay medals. Among those were the world record-setting women’s 4x100m free, women’s 4x200m free and mixed 4x100m free relays.

This year in Doha, Jack once again represented Australia in fine form, claiming 100m free bronze and 5 relay medals.

Flash forward to tonight and Jack was clearly emotional during her on-deck interview after the 100m free race.

She said, “I’ve said to myself, ‘I have nothing to prove, I’ve come back and I think that tells enough’.

“But I just always thought of this moment and how do I get to this moment, and how do I make it come true?

“It’s one of those things that every little girl dreams of, and I’ve always dreamt of representing my country at the Olympics.

“I think, for me, it’s just using every bit of motivation from anybody who ever doubted me and knowing that I reached points of absolute despair and not even knowing if I wanted to return to the sport.

“It’s just happiness. I’m just so proud of myself and I couldn’t have done it without so many people.

“It’s pride for myself and pride that I get to prove to everybody that I deserve to be here. And this is what I was born for.” (ABC.net)

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