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Aussie swimming great Stephanie Rice has recalled the 'wild' time a male primary school teacher said it was unlikely she would become an Olympian due to her body shape.
Rice, 37, had the last laugh after winning three gold medals at the 2008 Games in Beijing – but the comment directed to her mother had a lasting effect.
The Olympics great spoke to a series of students about body positivity and stressed that the comment was unacceptable while speaking at a My Sports Academy function in Dubai.
'I look back now and think, wow,' she told the academy audience.
'You had an opportunity as a parent and a teacher to speak life and encouragement to children and this teacher, like, took something away from that moment.
'I'm so grateful that I never let it really affect me.'
Aussie swimming great Stephanie Rice has recalled the 'wild' time a male teacher said it was unlikely she would end up an Olympian due to her body shape - while in primary school
Rice, 37, had the last laugh after winning three gold medals at the 2008 Games in Beijing - but the comment directed to her mother had a lasting effect
Rice also shared the comment in an Instagram story.
It comes as Rice stated in January how her friends and family initially feared she had 'joined a cult' when she first expressed her strong interest in Christianity.
Rice married pastor Mark Lassey after just 10 months of dating, with the pair bonding over religion.
'A lot of people thought I'd lost my mind or fallen under some cult or something,' she said at the time.
The former athlete added she threw herself into religion '100 per cent' and that doing so 'saved her.'
Rice joined the church when she relocated to Dubai late last year and is now heavily involved with Kingdom City.
Lassey has been with the church for more than 10 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Kingdom City started in Perth in 2003 and has since gone global with branches in Africa, Europe and Asia in addition to the Middle East.
Speaking at a My Sports Academy function in Dubai (pictured), Rice spoke to a series of students about body positivity, and stressed the comment was unacceptable
Rice was previously romantically involved with former soldier Dane Christison, who she met at an Australian church.
They holidayed in the US together over Christmas 2023, but she publicly announced their split just months later in May 2024.
And last year, Rice revealed how a DNA test served as an eye-opener.
Along with fellow Olympic great Cathy Freeman, Rice took a test from AncestryDNA in a bid to learn more about herself.
Unsurprisingly, the test revealed she is competitive and better suited to individual sports like swimming.
However, the test also found that Rice is less likely to enjoy watching sport compared to playing it.
Having taken part in hockey and cycling as a child, the 37-year-old understood the findings.
'I wonder because we were [both] so focused on sport that we didn't really get into it [watching sport] from a hobby perspective, but in saying that there are so many athletes that just like are sports nuts and love watching sports,' Rice said, referencing Freeman's results, which revealed a similar mindset.
'But if we were on a trivia team, Cathy Freeman and I, we would just be the most horrific of the team, because everyone's expectation would be like "we've got Steph and Cathy, they will know all the sports trivia".
'But unless I was competing at the time, I would not have any idea.'
