She is one of Australia’s biggest names in the pool but Cate Campbell’s mother, Jenny, has revealed she had significant fears about her daughter’s wellbeing following the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Campbell went to Brazil hoping to win as many as four gold medals but flopped in her individual events, describing her failure as hot favourite to win the 100m freestyle as “possibly the greatest choke in Olympic history”.

She conceded she struggled with the pressure and, in an interview with News Corp, Jenny Campbell said her daughter’s state of mind post-Olympics significantly worried her.

“It was a dark time for Cate,” she said.

“Always in life there are going to be hardships and when someone you love is in those dark places, you have to go with them.

“It’s not something I would want anyone else to go through.

“It is never easy to watch someone you love in pain, but if they are resilient they can come out stronger – and that is how it has been with Cate. She is in a better place now than before Rio.”

Cate Campbell is competing in five events on the Gold Coast and has already won one, helping Australia to 4x100m freestyle relay success on Thursday evening.

Malaria shock

An athlete from an unnamed nation is in what Commonwealth Games organisers called a “serious condition” after coming down with malaria.

Malaria is a life-threatening blood disease carried by parasite-infected mosquitoes and kills approximately half a million people worldwide every year.

A statement from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games organisers said the athlete in question was 23 years old but declined to provide further details.

“The patient received immediate treatment for malaria on arrival at Gold Coast University Hospital,” a statement read.

“The patient remains admitted to GCUH in a serious condition and continues to be closely monitored.”

While officials did not disclose which nation the athlete is from, it is likely a foreign competitor given “there is no locally acquired malaria in mainland Australia”.

They added: “We have robust treatments for malaria in this country.”

A further update on the athlete’s condition is likely on Saturday.

The Tweet …

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is a keen follower of the Commonwealth Games and took to Twitter to share his joy in some India success.

Golden start to the day!! Continuing from where she left off 4 years ago in Glasgow. Congratulations, Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu on giving 🇮🇳 it's 2nd Gold Medal 🥇 in the on-going #GC2018. Proud moment. pic.twitter.com/vcQfkIU77I

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) April 6, 2018

‘Please, please ignore her’

Pauline Hanson’s highly inflammatory comments about the Games opening ceremony led to an outpouring of anger on Friday.

Hanson said the “20 minutes” devoted to indigenous culture during the ceremony was “absolutely disgusting”.

Games boss Peter Beattie urged Australians to forget about Hanson’s comments.

“Please, please ignore Pauline Hanson’s negative comments today,” he said.

“Don’t react to her unfair criticism. There will always be negative politicians trying to exploit the Games for political advantage.

“We should remain positive and promote Queensland to the world.”

The photo

A big crowd at Coolangatta saw Australia beat Cyprus in beach volleyball. Photo: Getty

It made us laugh …

If you’re lucky enough to be in Queensland for the next couple of weeks, you’ll no doubt have heard enough ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi’ cries to last you a lifetime.

We’re no fans of that unimaginative number, but the beach volleyball fans singing ‘Mozzie, Mozzie, Mozzie’ during Mozambique’s clash against old enemy England gave us a chuckle.

No comment

Maria Folau – wife of Wallabies star Israel – was whisked away from the press after her New Zealand side won 70-44 against Wales in the netball.

Israel’s views on homosexuality, recently published on Instagram, have caused a stir, but media hoping to get a comment from Maria were left disappointed as a minder ushered her off court.

Saturday’s action

Cate Campbell has a chance to win another gold in the women’s 50m freestyle final (7.43pm AEST) and Australia will aim to break their Games record in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay (9.50pm).

There are eight medal events in Saturday’s swimming and six in the cycling, headlined by local hope Matthew Glaetzer in the men’s sprint final (8.50pm), while Amy Cure is in with every chance in the women’s 25km points race (7.16pm).

More medal events come in the artistic gymnastics, triathlon and weightlifting, while our men’s basketballers face New Zealand (9pm) in a likely preview of the gold medal match.

Australia’s women’s hockey team face Ghana at 9.30pm, with the men battling South Africa at 4.30pm and our women’s beach volleyballers taking on Grenada at 5pm.