'That isolation room sucked': Aussie rookie's Olympic glory after ...

From heartbreak to Olympic glory, Australian swimmer Lani Pallister has overcome a Covid-19 scare to help Australia win gold in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relays on Friday morning AEST.

Earlier this week, the 22-year-old was forced to withdraw from the 1500m freestyle heats after testing positive for Covid-19, spending two days in an isolation room.

Having finished third in the 1500m event at the 2022 world championships, Pallister was considered a genuine medal hope in her debut Olympic campaign, with the Sydneysider fearing she’d also miss Thursday’s relay heats.

“I bawled my eyes out when I got Covid, I honestly thought I’d be out of that relay completely,” Pallister said.

“I didn’t know if I would even have the opportunity to swim in the heat.”

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The Australian 4x200m Freestyle Relay team. Picture: Adam HeadSource: News Corp Australia

However, Pallister thankfully recovered for the 4x200m freestyle relay, joining forces with Mollie O’Callaghan, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus to post an Olympic record time of 7:38.08.

“That isolation room sucked, but I’m stoked I’m negative,” Pallister laughed while speaking to Channel 9 after the medal ceremony.

“I would hate to put these girls in a position where I’d ruined their meet.

“The medical staff at the AOC did an incredible job looking after me and the other athletes on the Australian team that have Covid.

“I didn’t think that I’d be part of this relay at the start of the week, so to be here standing with them, I don’t think I could ask for anything more from my Olympic experience.”

Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus. Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

Pallister clocked a time of 1:55.61 during her leg, fending off American Paige Madden and China’s Bingjie Li while keeping Australia within touching distance of the world record split.

The Olympic rookie, who withdrew from the 400m freestyle to focus on the longer individual events, is coached by mother Janelle, a Seoul 1988 Olympian and Auckland 1990 Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

Pallister considered giving up the sport after undergoing surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat and battling an eating disorder, but those setbacks only underpin the significance of her Olympic triumph.

She will next compete in the women’s 800m freestyle heats on Friday evening AEST.