Former pop star Cody Simpson slams ‘ridiculous’ criticism, plans to make two Olympics Games

Cody Simpson refuses to admit his Olympic preparation has been affected by a string of poor results, with the former pop star insisting it’s just part of the normal run-up to the games.

And despite missing the 100-meter freestyle final and bombing his cap event in the 100-meter butterfly at the Australian Swimming Championships, Simpson says he has enough gas in the tank to win the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. to be achieved after the Paris Games in 2024.

Kyle Chalmers shook off the love triangle headlines that followed him in 2022 after Simpson began dating his ex-girlfriend Emma McKeon to win the 100-meter freestyle, with Simpson failing to even make it to the final.

Then in the 100-meter butterfly Simpson finished in eighth place, two seconds behind the winner, Matthew Temple, and 1.6 seconds slower than his personal best.

Simpson and Emma McKeon and pictured in his pop star days. Simpson has always said that he will probably perform again when his swimming career is over

However, the 28-year-old has dismissed suggestions that the results at the Gold Coast Aquatic Center were a hit to his Olympic preparation. Wide world of sports that such talk was ‘ridiculous’.

“Absolutely not – I find those headlines ridiculous because the Olympic trials in Paris are 15 months away and we are currently training heavily and everyone is in different stages of preparation,” he said.

He said the Australian championships were not the national championships, due in two months, and that his coach’s plan was not to have him at full speed this week.

“I don’t know why they call it the Australian Championships – it’s more of a Grand Prix.

“Our actual nationals are in two months, so I think there was a lot of media coverage about it.

“I didn’t really care to be honest about what people said because I trained super hard and my coach’s plan [wasn’t] to have me fresh and ready to race this week.

“We are still preparing for the meeting in two months. So yes, it was not too bad.’

Simpson, who spent a decade as a musician before switching to swimming in 2020, said he intends to continue pushing for Paris to be selected in both the 100m butterfly and 4x100m relay teams.

Despite the poor results, Simpson insists his best is yet to come and wants to push for selection for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Chalmers is in ominous shape and appears to be a certainty for the Paris Olympics after admitting that love triangle headlines had previously affected his mental health.

He had missed out on qualifying for the Tokyo Games, but had previously indicated that Paris would likely be the only Olympics he’s chasing before potentially returning to music.

However, Simpson now says he has given no further thought to retiring from swimming and has not ruled out suing for the LA Games in 2028.

“I’ll make that decision when it comes up,” he said.

“I plan to keep swimming through Paris for sure. I haven’t decided yet what comes next in terms of swimming, whether to continue or go back.

Eventually I will go back to playing music, it was always my plan.

Originally I said I would only swim for four years, but I like it so much it can drag on. I can’t say yet.’

Simpson has shown promise in the pool, winning a gold and a silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games competing in the series of both the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay. He also finished fifth in the solo butterfly event.

Chalmers, who won gold in the 100-meter freestyle at the Rio Olympics, is considered one of Australia’s strongest swimmers ahead of Paris. He also defeated Simpson in the 100-meter butterfly at the championships, finishing in third place.