Former gold medalist still buoyant after disappointing plunge in form

China's Ye Shiwen douses herself with water before the 200m individual medley semifinal on Monday. [Photo/Agencies]

Ye Shiwen's four-year slide from Olympic champion to last place in the final hasn't been easy for her to digest.

Still, the Chinese swimmer remains upbeat about her future in the sport.

On Tuesday evening, Ye climbed out of the pool, packed up her clothes and left the competition area after finishing dead last in the women's 200m individual medley final.

The thunderous cheers from the crowd sounded exactly like those she heard four years ago after winning the same event with a world-record time at the London Games - but this time the applause was for Hungary's Katinka Hosszu, who won her third gold medal of these Games with an Olympic-record time of in 2:06.58.

Britain's Siobhan-Marie O'Connor and Maya Dirado of the United States, who claimed the silver and bronze medals, were 0.3 and 2.21 seconds slower.

Ye finished in 2 min, 13.56 sec - almost six seconds slower than her winning time in London.

Ye also won the 400m individual medley in London when she was just 16, but since then she has struggled with a series of injuries, including a major one to her right ankle.

Hampered by her physical condition, she has been unable to maintain rigorous training over the past three years and failed to win any titles at the world championships in 2013 and 2015.

The sharp decline in her performances also led to depression and insomnia.

Ye said that during preparations for the 2015 world championships in Russia, she started to fear competition and even thought about escaping from training camp.

"I just lost the motivation and confidence to train and compete, with more and more pressure on my shoulders," she said.

After ankle surgery last year, Ye took a break from the pool to rehabilitate herself. Support from her family and longtime coach Xu Guoyi carried her through her troubles.

"I used to condemn myself for losing a race because I felt I had failed those who supported me. Now I've learned to just compete for myself," Ye said.

At the Chinese national championships in April, she showed signs of a return to form by winning the 200m individual medley and securing Olympic qualification.

Despite a disappointing Rio campaign, she's not giving up.

"I'm actually happy about my performance here; I am now more aware that I need a longer period to recover physically and mentally," Ye said.

While stopping short of saying she'll compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, she said: "I'm sure I won't quit now".

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn