Rio de Janeiro: A desperate handwritten two-page letter from Emma McKeon has convinced Australia's Olympic chef de mission Kitty Chiller to perform a stunning backflip to allow the swimmer to march in the closing ceremony.
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Chiller held a late-night media conference outside the athletes' village to confirm an exclusive Fairfax Media story that sanctions placed on the four-time medallist here in Rio had been reversed.
McKeon had been banned from marching in the closing ceremony after she decided to stay in Copacabana with friends following a boozy night out with fellow swimmers on Tuesday. A strict curfew, though, forbidding her from leaving the village after 8pm, still applies.
After receiving the letter, Chiller invited McKeon to visit her at the modern pentathlon event at Deodoro, where peace was brokered.
"The tone and content of her letter, and her conversation with me, proved to me that she now very much understands the seriousness of our safety protocols," Chiller said. "She now understands the seriousness of her breach and how that placed her in jeopardy and all I was ever doing was trying to protect Emma and the 420 other athletes in our team."
On the surface, it looks like a dramatic change of heart from Chiller, who also banned swimmer Josh Palmer from attending the closing ceremony after he was supposedly held up at gunpoint on Copacabana and didn't return to the athletes' village until late on Wednesday.
"It's absolutely not a capitulation," Chiller said. "I haven't read any of the social media. I am aware of the criticism. Those people in Australia who have criticised this sanction are in Australia. They are not in Rio. Rio is a different city to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It's a dangerous city. And that night could've ended in tragedy for Emma."
Chiller said she had not received any words of contrition from Palmer.
"I've heard nothing from Josh Palmer," she said. "If he wants to [contact me] he can … Josh Palmer's indiscretions were in another ballpark to Emma's."
McKeon had been initially dumbfounded about her banning, tweeing earlier this week: "To clarify, I've followed AOC safety protocol in not travelling to village alone. My error was not texting my team manager. #noclosingforme."
Other teammates past and present have rallied around her and started their own hashtag campaign, much to the anger of Australian Olympic Committee officials.
"I think she needed a night to sleep on it," Chiller said. "She slept on it and realised the importance of the protocols we'd had in place. I one hundred percent believe her apology is genuine. I think she was in shock 24 hours ago. She was tired and emotional and after a good night's sleep and probably chatting to a few people she realised the seriousness of what she had done."
McKeon, who won four medals in the pool in Rio including a relay gold, failed to notify team officials that she was not returning to the athletes' village and staying with female swimming friends from Sweden on Tuesday night.
McKeon's reinstatement comes amid friction between the AOC and the swim team in Rio with anger at the perceived aloofness of the swimmers among Australia's other athletes here. Chiller was angry that posters of past Olympic champions such as Cathy Freeman and Herb Elliott had been removed from the entrance to the floors of the Australian swim section in the high-rise athletes' village and that others on which the AOC "One Team" mantra was displayed had been replaced by posters with the swimmers' "Our Team" logo.
Chiller and the AOC's head of security have been intent on trying to ensure the safety of the 400-plus team as well as staff and officials, banning them from the sand at Copa and Ipanema beaches at night and demanding that they travel as a group of three and never by foot in the evening.
The disciplining of McKeon and Palmer, who said he was forced to withdraw $1000 from an ATM and lost his wallet and phone after his night out, led to a curfew being placed on the pair. They were told they could not leave the village near the main Olympic Park at Barra de Tijuca between the hours of 8pm and 8am.
McKeon has won more medals at this Olympics than any other Australian. She won gold in the 4x100 metres women's freestyle relay team which set a new world record, silver in the 4x100m medley relay and 4x200m freestyle relay, and bronze in the 200m freestyle.
Petition to reinstate McKeon
Former Australian Olympic swimmer Melanie Schlanger has headlined the reaction to the banning of Emma McKeon from the closing ceremony in Brazil, starting an online petition to try and have her punishment downgraded.
Both McKeon and Josh Palmer were handed an 8am-8pm curfew from the AOC and told they could not attend the closing ceremony on Sunday night in the aftermath of an evening at a Copacabana nightclub.
McKeon stayed overnight with some Swedish swimming friends and failed to inform Australian officials, who have implemented strict security protocols in Rio to guard against frequent street crime.
Palmer was robbed of $1000, lost his wallet and phone and was later found disoriented before being safely returned to the Athletes' Village.
The duo copped the same punishment but many feel it was too harsh on McKeon, who won four medals in the pool. There had been some suggestion she was in line to carry Australia's flag into the Maracana on the final night.
A number of her Dolphins teammates in Rio have posted images with the hashtag #letherdance, which has also become the catch-cry on Twitter and Facebook for those who want McKeon to be able to enjoy the final night of the Games.
Schlanger, a relay gold medallist in London who has retired to study medicine, went one step further by setting up a change.org petition asking for mercy for her former teammate.
"Emma Mckeon made a simple mistake in not texting team management her whereabouts after being separated from her teammates. She opted not to travel back to the Olympic village alone, as per AOC safety protocol, and instead stayed with female swimming friends overnight," Schlanger wrote.
"Emma should receive a sanction for failing to inform team management but a ban from the closing ceremony is too harsh. Please help to rectify this knee jerk overreaction."
Chiller had warned Australian athletes repeatedly about security at night in Rio. The move to ban the pair has prompted more suggestions she is over-zealous, but the AOC would counter that the safety and security of more than 400 athletes in a potentially dangerous city is serious business.
