Olympic glory quest not the reason for break up with Sullivan: Rice

Kuala Lumpur, July 31 : Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice has denied that the decision of Eamon Sullivan and herself to split before the Olympics was made so the focus would ease on the glamour couple in Beijing.

News broke yesterday that the pair who have been dating since meeting at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne - had decided to end their relationship, with Sullivan stating that they did so to focus on the Games and not each other.

"No not at all," Rice said today when asked about that suggestion.

"Really the Olympics is the pinnacle and for me being my first Olympics, just being so excited to go there and be able to experience all the atmosphere and it has nothing to do with a relationship or anything, it's really at this point in time about swimming and this is everything I've trained for and that's really what I'm focusing on at the moment.

"The whole reason that we decided to have a bit of a break was because of the Olympics and obviously the media talking about it (the break-up) is a little bit draining but at the same time we both know we made this decision because of the Olympics and being such elite athletes and professional that we want to do what is best for us."

ANI