- Alyssa Healy takes aim at Olympic great Ian Thorpe
- Thorpey made a big call during the Paris Games
- Healy says Australian women’s cricket team is being ignored
Alyssa Healy has taken issue with a comment made by Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe at the Olympics.
Thorpe, as he watched the country’s superstar women’s freestyle quartet win gold in the relay, was effusive in his praise as they climbed to the top of the podium for a fourth consecutive Games.
“I don’t think there’s a more dominant Australian team in any code, in any sport,” he said. “Please tell me if there is one. I’m glad I was wrong.”
Australian women’s cricket captain Healy, who was watching the action at home with her husband Mitchell Starc, was shocked by the comment.
The cricketers have a clear claim to the title of best Australian team in any respect. They have won the last four World Cups, won gold at the Commonwealth Games two years ago and have won every Ashes series since 2015.
“I’m delighted that (Thorpe) thought that and pointed that out,” Healy told the Daily Telegraph.
“And suddenly people start pointing at other teams that have had the same success. I love the Charlotte Caslick (rugby sevens star) quote about how to get attention you have to win gold, just to try and get attention.
“And I feel like it’s kind of similar to what we’re doing. People expect us to win all the time.
Alyssa Healy responded to Ian Thorpe after the great swimmer’s bold claim
Thorpe made a comment during the Paris Olympics that caught Healy’s attention.
Thorpe said Australia’s 4x100m team is the best in any discipline, but Healy thinks differently
“And when you fall a little bit short, it’s like the end of the world, but at the same time, it’s a professional sport and it’s difficult to maintain that level. So, look, we’ll keep trying as hard as we can and try to stay in Thorpey’s mind.”
Reflecting on how his team manages to keep motivation levels high, despite having won everything there is to win in their sport, Healy said: “We also set very high expectations of ourselves.
‘We don’t go to a World Cup thinking we’re going to finish second, we go there to win a trophy and we set ourselves very high standards.
“But within our group we know where we are and what this looks like going forward.
“But we keep the expectations that come from outside in check. Everyone thinks we’re going to go home with the trophy, but we know how difficult it is to win a World Cup and how close we’ve come to not winning it in the past.”
“We don’t take it for granted. We’ll let the outside noise do what it has to do and focus on what we can do internally to make sure we’re doing our job right.”