Cesar Cielo will not compete in his home Olympics after finishing third in the men’s 50-meter free at the 2016 Maria Lenk Trophy.
He took third place with a time of 21.91 seconds, good for eighth in the world, but not good enough to make the squad.
What happened?
Bruno Fratus won the event with a time of 21.74 seconds, the fifth-best in the world this year.
Italo Duarte claimed the second Olympic roster spot with a time of 21.82 seconds, sixth in the world.
Cielo scratched the 100 free and a chance at the 400 free relay, putting all his hope into the 50 free.
Why it matters for Cesar Cielo
Cielo is Brazil’s only swimming gold medalist, and now he’s going to miss out on the chance to swim at a home Olympics.
He won the gold in 2008, 8 years ago, and was hoping to perform well in front of his home crowd.
What comes next?
Cielo can still say he’s the only human being in history to swim 50 meters in under 21 seconds.
There’s a new generation of Brazilian swimmers coming, with Fratus and Duarte leading the way.
And Cielo will have to wait until 2020 to try and qualify for the Olympics again.
Marcelo Chierighini, Santo Condorelli, Andrii Govorov, Gabriel Santos, and Alan Vitoria also swam in the finale.
Cielo put all his hope into the 50 free and lost out, a devastating result for the Brazilian swimmer.
He will not be able to compete in the Olympics in his home country, a disappointment for him and his fans.