Australian swimmer Shayna Jack has sent a message of congratulations to her former teammates after their thrilling triumph at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
Jack was a member of Australia’s 4 x 100m freestyle team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, competing alongside Bronte Campbell, Cate Campbell and Emma McKeon.
But her Olympic dream was shattered in 2019 when she copped a four-year ban from competitive swimming after testing positive for the banned substance Ligandrol.
So instead of fighting for Olympic gold in Tokyo this week, the 22-year-old watched her former teammates achieve the dream feat from her home.
McKeon, the Campbell sisters and young gun Meg Harris shattered the 4 x 100m women’s freestyle world record on Sunday, registering a blistering time of 3:29.69 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Jack posted to Instagram after the race: “Congratulations girls, well deserved.”
To rub salt into the wounds, the Queenslander also revealed drug testers visited her at 11pm on Saturday evening.
Olympics live blog: Day 2 coverage
Last year, Jack’s doping ban was reduced by two years following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
But after nearly two years of fighting and more than $130,000 in fees, Sport Integrity Australia and the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed the decision, meaning Jack would need to once again return to the courtroom to defend herself.
Jack has always maintained her innocence.
The Campbell sisters have been outspoken supporters of Jack since the doping bombshell, saying they believe she is not at fault for testing positive to the banned substance.
“I’ve been very upset by this whole thing by how Shayna has been treated,” Cate told ABC’s Australian Story earlier this year
“She said, ‘Cate, I’m so lucky that I’m not the type of person who particularly cares what people say about me, because if I did, I wouldn’t be alive right now’.
“I have received a bit of backlash for supporting Shayna. However, I believe that it’s the right thing to do. What really scares me about this situation is that I believe it could have happened to me. This case has made me aware that it is possible for contamination to occur. I can support Shayna Jack and I can still have a zero tolerance for drugs in sport — both of those things are possible.”
Jack is dating hockey player Joel Rintala, who has previously represented the Queensland Blades and Australian Under-21 team.
The pair visited Brisbane’s Australia Zoo on Sunday, with Jack posting a series of snaps to Instagram.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ70qmmq6xfpLm6uc%2Bimqxno52uurrAZqGam5uoeq6x0qyYoJ1dqbxuss6rpJ6qXamyornMmqueq12Ws7Wx0WarqKOppHq1vsiupKmgX6OyuL%2BMrKuoqqlks3Z9xG5nb29pl7KlfJFrmJ2ZlmawdICWnpqcnZOYr3I%3D