As Australian Ariarne Titmus brought down American rival Katie Ledecky in an epic 400m final, her coach Dean Boxall was going nuts in the stands, channelling WWE legend the Ultimate Warrior with a celebration that made waves around the world.
Boxall has coached Titmus for six years after her family moved from Tasmania to Brisbane to further her swim career under his tuition at Brisbane’s St Peters school.
He is well known for his passion and it all burst out at the end of the race as he grabbed a rail and screamed, in the same style as the Ultimate Warrior grabbing ring ropes.
“He was my favourite,” Boxall told Channel 7. “My brother was, I can’t remember, but I was the Ultimate Warrior when we used to wrestle at home when I was about 10. I loved him, loved the Ultimate Warrior.”
Boxall said his reaction “just came out. I built it up in trials it was coming through and when I saw the race unfolding I couldn’t keep it in.
“I need to apologise because I took my mask off by mistake and it ripped. I lost it in the moment.”
He said Titmus had stuck to their pre-race plan to win a first Olympic final.
“We had a race plan and the funny thing is, in this situation and under that pressure, Arnie executed it to perfection. When I saw it started to build I thought here we go, I thought she can do this. It’s unbelievable to execute that under pressure.”
Boxall’s reaction was nothing new, according to NZ swimmer Eve Thomas, who trains with Boxall and Titmus at St Peters.
She told stuff.nz he went “absolutely wild” when she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the 1500m freestyle.
“My coach was absolutely wild,” Thomas said. “He’s one of Australia’s top coaches and he’s just known for being absolutely insane.
“He’s so loud, a massive personality, exceptionally passionate, and he carried me through that 1500m.
“All 30 laps he was there with me, feeling every bit of pain that I was feeling.”
Titmus said she saw Boxall tearing up in the medal ceremony.
“He means everything to me,” she said.
“It was actually hard to contain it. I could see Dean on the other side bawling his eyes out. “You don’t see that that often so that made me want to tear up.”
While the moment drew plenty of praise from Australian fans, it also unveiled one of the worst takes you’ll ever see on Twitter.
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
The poms are strong contenders to the world's worst losers :thumbup:
Mat P
Guest
The moment I saw it I said "he's channelling a bit of the Ultimate Warrior there".
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Reminded me of Laurie Lawrence. Lol. He did it twice. I think I remember it was him one of the times jumping on the pool, or was that something else. Lol
HR
Roar Rookie
There’s no loser sorer than an American. It’s the effects of all that Manifest Destiny on their psyches – they can’t be beaten because they’re the best, and woe betide anyone who might dispel that illusion.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Also Americans sore about losing.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Also, do these guys have any concept of what coaches like Box put into their swimmers? If anyone can complain about him taking the attention off ariarne, it’s Ariarne.
jameswm
Roar Guru
These Twitter comments called Ariarne lucky? What the? Lucky to put in all that work and swim the 2nd fastest time ever?
Ed Gein
Roar Rookie
Imagine how sad your life would need to be to have any take on this guys reaction other than "this is the greatest thing I've seen today". Can only assume these people are suffering from Australia's largest case of Attention Deprivation Syndrome. Pantomime villains, all of them.
Allen Renfrey
Guest
Firstly, please explain what you mean by the statement " he bigfoots her. Secondly , accept that the coach shares in the success, and he was over the moon with 'Arnie's' win.
Objective
Guest
Who the f is Laura Chapin, and why does anyone care what she thinks? When you’ve coached an elite athlete to glory, Laura, get back to us. Until then, have a great life and maybe cheer up a little.