Advertisement

Kyle Chalmers blasts reports of icy rift with Emma McKeon: 'Load of s**t'

Aussie swimmer Kyle Chalmers (pictured left) after a race and (pictured right) Emma McKeon celebrating her medal on the podium.
Aussie swimmer Kyle Chalmers (pictured left) has unleashed on the media and reports that there is a rift between himself and teammate Emma McKeon (pictured right), which he has labelled false. (Getty Images)

Gold medallist Kyle Chalmers' press conference came to an abrupt end after he blasted the media over reports of a rift between himself and former partner Emma McKeon at the Commonwealth Games.

Chalmers was part of the men's 4x100m relay team that won gold, alongside William Yang, Zac Incerti and Flynn Southam.

'Bloody robbed': Medal hope cops bizarre penalty at Comm Games

'EPIC': Swimming world erupts over Ariarne Titmus feat at Comm Games

However, instead of enjoying his moment, Chalmers' press conference quickly turned chaotic with the swimmer firing back at reporters when he was asked questions about McKeon.

On Saturday morning, McKeon swam the last leg of Australia's gold medal triumph in the mixed 4x100m relay team.

Reports suggested that Chalmers and McKeon kept their distance when celebrating the victory after the race.

Some reports suggested Chalmers didn't congratulate McKeon on her final leg swim.

McKeon and Chalmers dated for a few months when their relationship became common knowledge back in September.

Having parted ways, McKeon is now dating former pop star - turned swimmer - Cody Simpson who is part of the Aussie team at the Commonwealth Games.

And having been bombarded with questions ever since McKeon and Simpson started dating, Chalmers hit back at the media in an all-time press conference.

He claimed that he did congratulate McKeon after the race and that all the reports around a rift were utterly false.

"Did you watch the whole race?” Chalmers asked the reporters.

William Xu Yang, Kyle Chalmers, Mollie O Callaghan and Emma McKeon holding their gold medals after the Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final at the Commonwealth Games.
Kyle Chalmers (pictured middle right) has denied any rift with Emma McKeon (pictured far left) in the Australian swimming team. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) (Tim Clayton - Corbis via Getty Images)

“I said congratulations and we (McKeon) stood here right alongside you guys and spoke last night. I find that really hard to believe that I didn’t say congratulations after the race.

“I actually walked up and said ‘good job’ across the pool.

"We all said congratulations, we all did what we had to do and it’s an honour to be part of that team last night and win the first gold medal in the race at the Commonwealth Games and to do it with Australia’s most successful Olympian and now Australia’s most successful Commonwealth Games athlete is special."

In a separate interview, McKeon backed up Chalmers' words.

"He did (offer congratulations)," she said after winning another gold on Australia's women's 4x100m freestyle relay team.

Kyle Chalmers addresses Cody Simpson relationship

Chalmers said the speculation had taken a toll on his mental health and while he has never shied away from media responsibilities, he wouldn't always be so willing to give his time if it continued.

“The truth it I won’t be around forever and you enjoy it while you can," he added.

"You can try and bring me down all you want but it’s only going to last so long and I will stop talking to the media.

“I can stand here and say everything positive now but I know you’re probably going to go home and be a keyboard warrior.”

Chalmers swim on Saturday night for the men's 4x100m freestyle team also helped earn Simpson a gold medal too

Cody Simpson (pictured right) and Emma McKeon (pictured left) practice at the Commonwealth Games.
Cody Simpson (pictured right) and Emma McKeon (pictured left) during the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) (Quinn Rooney via Getty Images)

This is a result of Simpson being a heat swimmer in the event.

And Chalmers touched on his relationship with Simpson and said he had been nothing but supportive of the swimmer since he entered the Australian team.

“I say ‘good luck’ to Cody. I say ‘good job’ to Cody. I send him a message after the race. I do nothing but be positive. I try and support him on the team but again, people just want clickbait," he added.

When pressed on whether there were divisions within the team, Chalmers doubled down and slammed the 'false' news.

“I think it’s fantastic he’s here. It’s great for our sport. It brings new viewers in. What he’s achieved in two years of swimming is incredible," Chalmers said of Simpson.

"Focus on the positives rather than trying to make up some story that’s not actually true.

“We’ll chat tonight about. We’ll chat tomorrow. We’ll chat in the marshalling room.

"It’s all just false news that’s actually crap. It’s a load of shit that’s not true. It’s words getting put in mouths and you wanting to make a story out of nothing.”

Chalmers took to social media after the press conference to claim 'enough is enough' and that he didn't want to see his teammates in tears over such reports.

“Some of the lines of questioning is hurting my teammates and enough is enough. As a leader of this team I want my teammates [to be] incredibly proud of these achievements, not in tears and scared of what story or comment will be written about them," he wrote on social media.

“Be careful of what you read, we are the envy of so many countries over here and I won’t stand to see my team in tears when they are on top of the world.

"I know Australia is proud and so am I. But enough with click bait and s**t headlines."

McKeon anchored Australia's women's 4x100m relay win in stunning fashion to claim her 10th Commonwealth Games medal.

She now joins Susie O'Neill, Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones as the only swimmers to have achieved this feat.

with AAP

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.