Australian media darling and Rio disappointment Cate Campbell has revealed she swam with a hernia at the Olympic Games.

Campbell, who was favourite to take out the 50m and 100m freestyle sprint events, left the Games without an individual medal and in the days following, admitted she was considering leaving the sport altogether.

Now Campbell has revealed to The Australian she developed the hernia (her second in a year) three months before the Games.

The swimmer had hinted something was not right after her disappointing individual performances, but said she didn’t want to start making excuses before her final swim in the medley relay – in which she helped Australia grab a silver medal.

“I’m not about to put anything in print right now,” she said at the time.

“I want to be able to stand and take ­responsibility for my actions. There may be a few things coming out a little later, but that is absolutely not relevant at the moment.”

No excuses

The swimmer, whose sister Bronte is also an Olympic medal winner, had no hernia to blame for her Rio struggles.

Campbell has been publicly harsh on herself. Photo: Getty

“I want it to be very clear that I do not make any excuses for my poor performances this past week,” she told The Australian.

She said her performance was “100 per cent [her] fault” – and the clock would agree.

If Campbell had swam either of her relay swim times (51.97 seconds in the freestyle relay and 52.17 in the medley relay) in the 100 metres individual event, she would have won gold.

She also broke the world record a month before the Olympics – with the hernia in tow.

Babies can contract ‘umbilical hernias’. Photo: Getty

Campbell’s coach Simon Cusack said the hernia had been painful, but having the removal operation would have been too close to the Games not to affect her preparation.

Cusack said Campbell was going to enjoy a post-Olympics holiday before undergoing surgery in October.

Despite earlier indications, the swim champ announced she would be aiming for Tokyo in four years’ time.

“I want to go out with happy tears, not sad tears, so you guys are going to have to lock me in for 2020.”

What is a hernia?

Hernias occur when an organ pushes through the muscle tissue that is supposed to hold it in.

If left untreated, more tissue or organs can widen the hole and form a sac, visible to the naked eye.

About 70 per cent of hernias involve intestines popping out through a weak spot in the abdominal wall. These aren’t life threatening, but do require surgery and can be very painful.

Hernia removals are very common in Australia, with about 40,000 performed each year.