To say the Nick Kyrgios Olympic saga was a mess would be an understatement. The Aussie number one’s war of words with AOC chef de mission Kitty Chiller lasted for weeks, drew fans into the fray and hurt the reputation of both sides.
Now that the situation has finally sorted itself out, although perhaps not with a good solution for either side, the CEO of the Australian Olympic committee, Fiona de Jong, admitted in the Canberra Times that the situation could have been handled better.
Disappointing End to a Bad Situation
Looking back at the situation, in which no one could be considered a winner, De Jong admitted that "It was disappointing perhaps how it played out. We can see both sides of the perspective in [that] we have an obligation to all Olympians to uphold the values of what it means when they put on that Olympic tracksuit."
Despite how messy Kyrgios made the situation with some immature responses, de Jong still felt some sympathy for the young Aussie, saying, “we also know that Nick was someone who wanted to be part of the Games and he may indeed in the future be part of it. But he chose to withdraw so we respect his decision on that and we look forward to him continuing to explore his talent and going on to become one of Australia's greatest ever tennis players, which is what everyone says he has the talent to be.”
Role of Social Media
After Kyrgios initially received the warning from Chiller, it was his response on Twitter that really escalated the situation and made it impossible to reach a positive solution. De Jong believes that this proved costly in the saga, admitting “We live in a day of social media where that's where a lot of things are communicated to individuals as well as the world at large, but perhaps we could've had more direct correspondence rather than in the public forum. That's perhaps the learning.”
The Olympics begin on August 5th, and the Australian’s will be without their top two ranked players, including Kyrgios.