Chad le Clos: I lost fair and square, but I’ll be back

Chad le Clos, South Africa’s most decorated Olympian of all time, will be leaving the Tokyo Olympics empty-handed.

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That’s after the four-time medal winner finished fifth in the final of the men’s 200m butterfly and a disappointing tie for 18th in the heats for the 100m butterfly where he failed to qualify for the 16-man semi-finals.

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The Durban-native, at 29-years-old now a veteran of the pool, claimed a memorable gold medal in the 200m butterfly nine years ago at the 2012 London Olympics as well as a silver in the 100m butterfly at the same Games.

He followed that up with silvers in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

Chad le Clos was at a loss to explain his performance in the 100m butterfly heats, according to SuperSport.

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“It’s tough. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what to say. No excuses… I can’t make excuses. I lost fair and square to everyone else. It’s devastating,” was all he could manage.

Chad le Clos added: “I’ll be back… I’ll win this in 2024.”

That may have been fighting talk in the immediate aftermath of defeat, but unfortunately a highly unlikely scenario.