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Katinka Hosszu Does Not Expect to Swim at 2024 Olympics
Since winning her first world title in 2009, Katinka Hosszu has been among the world’s best individual medley swimmers, and she will compete in front of a home crowd at this month’s World Championships in Budapest. However, Hosszu hinted in an interview with Forbes that her time in competitive swimming may soon be coming to an end.
In the interview (translated from Hungarian), Hosszu said, “It may sound weird, but I’m a little bored with the life of a competitive athlete: I know exactly how to do it well and no one else can fit into it.” She added that she and fiancé Máté Gelencsér are planning to have a baby in the near future. Given those life plans, she said, “I don’t think I’ll be there for the next Olympics.”
Hosszu did suggest in the story that she hopes to finish her career with 100 international medals between the Olympics, World Championships, Short Course World Championships and European Championships (long course plus short course). Currently, Hosszu owns 96 such medals, including her four Olympic medals from 2016 (gold in the 400 IM, 100 back and 200 IM; silver in the 200 back) and her 15 World Championships medals, nine of which are gold. Hosszu will race the IM events at Worlds, and then she is likely to continue racing through at least the European Championships later in the summer.
The idea of winning 100 medals came after a disappointing Tokyo Olympics for Hosszu. She had been unbeaten in the 200 IM and 400 IM internationally since 2013, but she ended up fifth in the 400 IM, one second out of medal position, and seventh in the 200 IM, where she missed the podium by three seconds and was six seconds off her own world record.
“I wanted to set another goal for myself after finishing in fifth place in Tokyo. I didn’t want to end up with a bad taste,” Hosszu said, according to Forbes. “It was a huge disappointment, which is why I wanted to set another personal goal. After the Olympics, this idea came to mind during the holidays in September. I can’t promise that I can really stop when I have 100 medals. It also depends on when I get there and how I feel then.”
Hosszu is aiming for other pieces of history in Budapest in the medley events. The 33-year-old is bidding to become the first swimmer female or male to win five consecutive world titles in one event, and she will have two chances, in the 200 IM on the meet’s second day and in the 400 IM on the final day. She previously won both events at the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 Worlds. American Katie Ledecky will also have a chance at a five-peat in the 800 freestyle. With a win in the 400 IM, Hosszu would also become the only swimmer to win a single world title six different times. She won the event at the 2019 World Championships, prior to the start of her current streak.
Sorry to see her go.
It’s time for her to move on the next stage of her life.
time is catching up with her……..she will be 35…….swimmers fall fast……and lots of newcommers!!!!….