In 2011, at the age of 16, Missy Franklin rose to fame at the Shanghai Swimming World Championships, winning three gold medals. A year later, the rising swimming star lived up to expectations, winning four gold medals for the United States at the London Olympics and breaking world records twice. Although young, the starlight of this "female flying fish" is already shining enough.
In 2016, Franklin once again embarked on a new Olympic journey. In the ongoing National Swimming Qualifiers, although she successfully qualified for the women's 200m freestyle, 200m backstroke and 4x200m relay, the race did not go as smoothly as Franklin expected. She did not win any individual qualifiers, and in the 200m freestyle she lost to the new swim diva Katie Lederski, and in the 200m backstroke she lost to Maya Dillado, who competed for the Olympics for the first time.
After the game, Franklin, who has always been optimistic, also said that he could do better: "I kept saying that I couldn't swim as well as I used to, but at least I got the qualification, and that's what I needed to do." "If you want to continue your glory in Rio, Franklin may need to put in more effort.
"This year I've been telling myself not to compare to myself in 2012." Franklin said, "I think a lot of people now want me to be as good as I was in 2012, but that's not what I went to Rio for." I hope to prove how good I am now, not who I was four years ago. ”
Franklin has long been seen as the future of American swimming. In the two World Championships after the London Olympics, Franklin won a total of eight gold medals, but she had to admit that her road to Rio was not smooth. But Franklin was confident: "I still need to do a lot of preparation, and if I encounter a lot of pressure later, I know how to deal with it." ”