2020 Olympic Medalist Bruno Fratus Drops Paris Bid Due To Injuries
30/04/2024 22:18
By Retta Race on SwimSwam
The 2024 Brazilian Championships/Olympic Trials begin next week but one Olympic medalist competitor will not be among those vying for a slot on the Paris 2024 roster.
34-year-old bronze medalist from Tokyo, Bruno Fratus, revealed via social media that he will opt out of the Brazilian Championships and, therefore, not pursue a 2024 Olympic berth.
“Those who have been following me more closely have seen over the last few months that I have been dealing with injuries, surgeries and A LOT of physiotherapy and it is undeniable that all of this has had an impact on the regularity of training and competitions,” Fratus stated via social media today, Tuesday, April 30th.
“I’ve been training since I was 11 years old, and after three consecutive Olympic cycles – the last two being very atypical – my body asked for air.
“In the last 18 months there have been four surgeries, countless physiotherapy sessions, but despite all the effort in rehabilitation, a lot of time out of the water too.
“All of this made it impossible to prepare to put me in a competitive position in Paris now, less than 100 days ago.
As difficult as it is, I chose not to compete in the Olympic trials next week and consequently I will not be in Paris.
“It’s difficult to convey such a personal message, based on such intimate feelings and situations, especially giving in to the superficiality of the format of this social network. Honestly, I would rather be talking to each one of you, eye to eye, and thank you for the unconditional support of everyone who accompanied me and sent messages of encouragement throughout this entire cycle.
“I want to say that all of this would not make sense without you and finally say that this is not a message of retirement, but of a brief hiatus.
“With this whole situation came the urgency of taking greater care of myself, taking the athlete and performance out of focus and taking care of the human being behind it all.
“Even though it hurts me – a lot – not to be able to be there, I will be here, cheering as always for everyone who will be there competing and representing our country.
“I want to thank the unconditional support of COB, my club, Pinheiros, and all my sponsors and supporters who can see the human being behind the athlete and share the same values and feelings as me.”
Fratus took bronze in the men’s 50m free at the last Olympic Games, finishing 3rd in 21.57 behind winner Caeleb Dressel of the United States (21.07) and Florent Manaudou of France (21.55).
We reported in February of this year that Fratus underwent knee surgery, rendering him out of this year’s World Championships.
After the procedure, Fratus told SwimSwam, "Eventually when you're pushing your body to the limit for the last 20+ years things are gonna hurt.
"The body is now paying the price for years of beating."
Fratus clocked a time of 22.82 in the men's 50m freestyle at the 2023 Jose Finkel Trophy last November as his last race before this announcement.
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