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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Rosaleen Fenton

Australian coach’s reaction to swimmer winning gold leaves people in hysterics

Swimmer Ariarne Titmus might have won the gold medal, but it was her coach who captured people's attention - thanks to his ecstatic celebration.

People were left in hysterics at the Australian swim coach's reaction after the 20-year-old won gold in the women's 400-metre freestyle final.

In a nailbiting race, Ariarne, whose nickname is 'Arnie' beat American swimmer Katie Ledecky, after a neck-and-neck race to the pool edge.

No one seemed happier than her coach, Dean Boxall, whose hilarious reaction was caught on camera - while a stadium employee tries (but fails) to keep him calm.

After ripping his face mask off, he begins to furiously scream before thrusting at the safety barrier and punching the air.

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Boxall told Australian network Channel 7 his reaction "built-up" as he watched Ariarne edge her way towards winning gold.

He said: “I used to wrestle with my brother, and he (Ultimate Warrior) was my favourite, and he died, he passed away, I loved the Ultimate Warrior.

“It built-up. When I saw the race unfolding I couldn’t keep it in. I need to apologise because I actually took my mask off by mistake and it ripped and I just lost it in the moment.”

He added: “So when I saw it starting to build I thought, ‘here we go’, I thought ‘she can do this’. Unbelievable to execute that under pressure.”

His reaction went viral on Twitter, when the Australian swim coach shared it, adding: "Ariarne’s coach Dean Boxall sums it up perfectly!"

Another person joked: "It feels like we’re going to need Matthew McConaughey to play Dean Boxall in some sort of movie."

A third added: "The Dean Boxall moment was almost designed to go viral. I’d never heard of him before but pretty confident he’ll now never have to buy himself a beer ever again.

"The Tokyo 2020 volunteer behind Dean Boxall trying to contain him...ain't gonna happen," joked another.

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