Sasha Gatt realised "something was wrong" moments before a race she had spent three years preparing for, the "devastated" two-time Olympian said on Wednesday.
The Maltese swimmer was speaking to Times of Malta hours after testing positive for COVID-19 at the Paris Olympics.
"I was devastated because I've been training for three years, including six months in Romania away from family and friends," the 19-year-old said.
Gatt is one of five athletes representing Malta in the Olympic Games.
Lining up in the first heat of the race, Gatt was up against two other swimmers, namely Singapore’s Ching Hwenn Gan and Chile’s Kristel Kobrich.
Gan dominated the race from start to finish as she cruised home in 16.10.13, while Gatt finished a distant third with a time of 17.00.54.
Gatt's time was over 22 seconds slower than her national record of 16.38.75, which she set in Rome in 2021. Minutes after competing in the 1,500m freestyle heats at the Paris La Defense Arena on Tuesday, she tested positive for COVID-19.
Despite the race's results and her COVID diagnosis, Gatt said she was "over the moon" about the experience and the opportunity to be among the world's best athletes.
"I will now focus on my health, get back into training and support Team Malta for the rest of the games."
'It was harder to breathe'
Gatt recalled how moments before she dived into the pool she started to feel unwell.
She found it "harder to breathe than usual" while warming-up for the race.
“It felt like my throat was closing up, however, I just thought it was the excitement of the race and I just decided to ignore it.”
Gatt recalled her heart beating "super fast" and feeling overwhelmed with excitement.
"Hearing the massive crowd cheering gave me goosebumps, and filled me with encouragement to give the best performance of my life.
"The moment the arena went quiet, I knew it was time to go and all I thought about was just me, my lane and the race ahead of me."
When the race kicked off, adrenaline took over, but after 400m, she found it more difficult to breathe.
"I believe everything happens for a reason, and I'm incredibly grateful for every opportunity that comes my way, " Gatt said, adding that she will never forget the experience.
"If you're not winning, you're learning," she added.
This was Gatt’s only assignment at the 2024 games.
She had participated in Tokyo in 2021 as one of the youngest Maltese athletes.
How is Team Malta faring in the Olympics?
Shooter Gianluca Chetcuti made his debut at the Paris 2024 Games in the Men's Skeet competition.
The competition consisted of two days of qualifying events.
On the first day, shooters participated in three rounds of 25 shots each, for a maximum of 75 targets. On that day, Chetcuti finished in 28th place with 69 targets hit.
On the second day (Tuesday) he shot a straight 25 round. In the second and final round of the day, Chetcuti missed three shots to hit 22 each time.
He failed to qualify for the final round.
Judoka Katryna Esposito put on a fighting performance on her Olympic debut on Saturday, but she lost to her competitor Mongolian judoka Bavuudorjiin Baasankhüü.
Kyle Micallef will make his debut in the men's 50m freestyle on Thursday and sprinter Beppe Grillo in the 100m Preliminary round on Saturday.