Australian swim coach Dean Boxall had a wild reaction to his swimmer Ariarne Titmus beating American Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics Monday.
Titmus became the first woman to beat Ledecky, a five-time Olympian, in an individual Olympic final, the Washington Post reported. Titmus came from behind in the last 50 meters of the race, recording the second-fastest time in history, CBS8 reported.
Boxall was recorded reacting to the fellow Australian‘s win by tearing off his mandatory mask, pumping his fists, and gyrating against the railing in a frenzy.
when the preworkout kicks in #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/xkU7zyF0gG
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 26, 2021
“It built up. When I saw the race unfolding I couldn’t keep it in,” Boxall told FOX Sports Australia. “I need to apologise because I actually took my mask off by mistake and it ripped and I just lost it in the moment.”
He noted he was inspired by WWE legend Ultimate Warrior for his celebration. “I used to wrestle with my brother, and he (Ultimate Warrior) was my favorite, and he died, he passed away, I loved the Ultimate Warrior,” he said.
“I’ve seen little snippets of it. That’s just like Dean. He’s very passionate … he becomes very animated,” Titmus said after the race, according to Fox News. “I think that this is just as much for him as it is for me. He’s sacrificed a lot of his family life, his kids, his wife and his job. He puts 100% into being a swimming coach and I would not be here without him.”
“He means everything to me,” she said, according to FOX Sports Australia. “Coming into this race we knew what we had to do. We didn’t discuss what I wanted to do in the pool.” (RELATED: Bryson DeChambeau Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Will Miss The Olympics)
Though Boxall did not celebrate in the same way at the medal ceremony, he did start to tear up. “He was crying and I was trying to contain the emotions, but it’s good to see how much it means to him too,” Titmus said, according to Fox News.
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