Nothing wrong with silver: athletes

5 Aug 2012, 8:51 pm   -   Source: AAP

Australia's athletes have defended their performance at the Olympic Games in which the team has won one gold medal, but 12 silvers.

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Australia's athletes have rigorously defended the team's performances at the London Olympics, with swimmer Cate Campbell saying it's hurtful to be accused of underperforming.

With only one gold medal after eight days of competition, the Australians are spruiking the achievements of their 12 silvers.

Team boss Nick Green opened Sunday's press briefing saying: "We had a great day yesterday" after Australians picked up three silver and three bronze on Saturday.

"The spirit in this team is alive and well."

Halfway through the Games, Australia is 19th on the medals table, but fourth on the silver medals tally.

Long jumper Mitchell Watt, who won silver at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday night after going into the Games as a gold medal favourite, lashed out at the Australian media for being too critical.

"People need to start understanding that it's not easy to win an Olympic gold medal and there's absolutely nothing wrong with a silver medal," Watt said.

"Last night the first question I got was `a disappointing result?' The team's happy, I'm happy, the coach is happy, I've got thousands of messages back home that they're happy and the only people that aren't happy are you guys (the media).

"So you need to wake up."

Campbell, part of Australia's only gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay way back on the first day of competition, said the athletes were giving their all.

"I think it's maybe almost a little bit hurtful to say we've been underperforming because we go out there and pour our heart and soul into every single performance," she said.

"It's not that we haven't been performing, it's just that the world has stepped up.

"You look at last time, we were at the very top of the world and they've just reined us in.

"Hopefully we'll be doing the reining in next time. That's just the way it goes. It goes in waves and it's not through lack of trying that we haven't produced any gold medals, but as Mitchell said, there's nothing wrong with a silver medal."

And her relay teammate Melanie Schlanger says the difference for the public perception of success and failure is minuscule, pointing out that James Magnussen was beaten for gold by one hundredth of a second in the 100m freestyle and Emily Seebohm missed out by a tenth of a second in the 100m backstroke.

"If you add that up, point one of a second off two extra gold medals and the attitude of the country would be a lot different now. We'd be in the top 10 and we'd probably be called a successful team," Schlanger said.

"Point one, the difference between being slammed and being praised is quite harsh I believe."

Green defended the Australian Olympic Committee's (AOC) target of finishing top five in the medals table, based on world championship and equivalent results in 2011.

"The top five was an absolute realistic target," he said.

"We won't shy away from setting a robust target."

But he admitted on Sunday a top five finish "is looking challenging", even though AOC president John Coates a day earlier replied with an emphatic "no" when asked if it was still possible.

Coates said a top eight finish is now the more realistic target.

Watt joined the silver charge on Saturday, along with the women's 4x100m medley relay and men's four rowers.

ErIn Densham won the bronze in the women's triathlon as did Kim Crow in the single scull and the men's 4x100m medley relay.

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