WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Swimmer Mollie O'Callaghan announced she would not participate in a Pride event.
OUR VERDICT
False. The quote is fake.
AAP FACTCHECK - Australian swimming star Mollie O'Callaghan has not announced a boycott of a Pride event, despite claims on social media.
The claims are based on fake quotes and don't match any of the public remarks from the Olympian.
O'Callaghan became the first woman to finish the 200m freestyle in under one minute and 50 seconds, breaking the world record, at a US short-course event on Sunday night.
A Facebook post from a page called 'Swim Hub' claims the Olympian will not participate in an event for LGBTQIA people.
"Australia's No.1 swimmer Mollie O'Callaghan sparked controversy after announcing she would not participate in Swimming's "Pride Night", saying: "This sport should focus on performance in the pool, not on political issues or social movements,"" the post states.
The quote has been shared by multiple other pages, gaining thousands of likes and comments.
There is no evidence that O'Callaghan made these comments.
Swimming Australia, the sport's governing body, told AAP FactCheck that the quotes are fabricated.
AAP FactCheck previously debunked fake quotes attributed to O'Callaghan about US transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
"Meta has been advised of the fake news, and O'Callaghan and Swimming Australia have requested the posts to be taken down," Swimming Australia said in a statement.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked claims about LGBTI Pride Month involving tennis stars Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, F1 driver Max Verstappen, and musicians Dolly Parton and Carrie Underwood.
Dan Halpin, chief executive of cyber investigations firm Cybertrace, previously told AAP FactCheck that Facebook pages sharing sensational fake news to encourage views, followers or likes to gain revenue.
"It's basically spam and many users don't check or care if it's true or not," Mr Halpin said.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked engagement bait pages targeting conservationists Robert Irwin and his sister Bindi Irwin, Home and Away stars and the British Royal Family.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
