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Kyrgios Wasn't 'Pushed' To Withdraw From Rio: Chiller

Australia's Olympic Chef De Mission Isn't Backing Down.
Nick Kyrgios was not pushed to withdraw from this year's Rio Olympics, according to AOC Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nick Kyrgios was not pushed to withdraw from this year's Rio Olympics, according to AOC Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller.

The AOC's Chef de Mission to Rio Kitty Chiller has defended her treatment of Nick Kyrgios, saying the controversial tennis player was not pushed to withdraw from the Olympics.

Kyrgios pulled out of the Rio Olympics on Friday, blaming the Australian Olympics Committee for treating him unfairly.

In a statement released yesterday, Kyrgios said representing Australia had been a "dream" of his since childhood, but it was clear the AOC had "other plans".

His decision to withdraw comes after a highly publicised spat with Chiller over his on-court behaviour.

More on the saga and how Kyrgios' actions put him at odds with other Aussie athletes can be read here.

On Saturday, Chiller said Kyrgios' decision to rule himself out of Rio was his alone.

"I think the key words in that statement were ... 'my decision'. And ultimately, it was his decision," Chiller told Network 7.

"He wasn't pushed. He was asked to please explain ... they (Kyrgios' team) chose not to follow that course.

"Tennis Australia was not aware of the withdrawal either, until we were all aware of it by press release."

Chiller has previously said the behaviour of Kyrgios and fellow Aussie Bernard Tomic was under the microscope ahead of selection for the Australian team.

Last month, Chiller hit out at Tomic's when he faced a match point at a tournament in Madrid, and disdainfully held his racket by the strings with the handle facing the opponent before boasting that he didn't care about the match point.

"It goes against every value that all the Olympians live by, that we live by," Chiller said at the time.

"It goes against everything that we've been trying to build in this team, through our ignite and aspire series and it's not something that any of our Olympic team members behave in that way."

Kyrgios' withdrawal comes after Tomic pulled out of the Olympics on May 12, preferring to honour a prior commitment to playing a tournament in Mexico.

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