Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus reveals why she ditched the Logies despite being invited to present an award: ‘Not many girls would have done that’

She amazed the world with her achievements in the pool during the Paris Games.

But Ariarne Titmus has revealed that she is willing to step out of the limelight.

In a shock revelation the 23-year-old Gold Medal winner confessed that she knocked back an invite to strut her stuff at the Logies in Sydney last week.

Instead, the earthy athlete was amongst the crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground watching the AFL’s Hawthorn trounce Carlton.

‘The [Logies] invited me to present an award, which would have been cool, but I wanted to go to the footy instead,’ she told the Herald Sun on Saturday.

‘Not many girls would have done that’ the athlete added. 

Elsewhere in the chat, the champion swimmer said she was looking forward to taking a break from the discipline of training for a while and enjoy herself.

‘I am going to be a yes girl,’ she explained.

‘When you are training you have to constantly say “no” to things, or you have to leave early, or you can’t really enjoy yourself at events, so I am definitely going to be doing everything I want to do, going to places, saying yes to invitations, saying yes to opportunities, and that is what I am excited for during this break.’

The Golden Girl was on top of the world as she arrived home an Olympic hero on last week.

She had another reason to be over the moon as she enjoyed a shock reunion with a close friend on live television.

Ariarne who won gold in the Paris pool in the 400m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay, caught up with Abbey Badcock in emotional scenes. 

In a shock revelation the 23-year-old Gold Medal winner confessed that she knocked back an invite to strut her stuff at the Logies in Sydney last week

The pair have been firm friends since Titmus grew up in Tasmania, before moving to Queensland as a teenager in 2015 to further her swimming career.

Speaking on Channel Nine’s The Today Show in a live interview at Sydney Airport, Titmus was delighted to see Badcock in the flesh.

‘She is a close and special friend,’ Titmus told hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo after the pair hugged.

‘I don’t get to see her often because of my training, but oh my God, this is so cool.

Abbey who revealed she used to swim against Ariarne as a youngster – told viewers how incredible it was to see her close friend on TV competing at the Olympics. 

Then it was over to Ariarne, who confirmed while winning gold in Paris was a euphoric feeling, she was also overcome with relief.

‘The [Logies] invited me to present an award, which would have been cool, but I wanted to go to the footy instead,’ she said. ‘Not many girls would have done that’ 

‘It [winning] was a monkey off my back, I was racing for [all of] Australia,’ she said.

‘It is still a little raw, I am trying to process it all. ‘I am living my dream….I would also like to think I am the same person that I was 10 years ago.’

She also confirmed catching up with family and friends will be her focus over the next few weeks before she returns to the pool – but footy is her top priority now she’s back on home soil.

‘I say no a lot because of training, but now I just can’t wait to be a yes girl and say yes to everything and not have to be the first to leave and head to bed early because of the early wake-ups,’ she said.

‘I am looking forward to some time off, starting off with seeing my [Hawthorn] Hawks this Sunday in Melbourne [when they play Richmond].

‘I think we will go and play the [Brisbane] Lions in the grand final.’