IRVINE, Calif. — On Lani Pallister’s left arm, just below her wrist, she has a tattoo that reads “Hope is not a strategy.” The 24-year-old developed that outlook after a trying 2021. On top of missing the team for that year’s Olympics, she underwent a heart procedure and battled an eating disorder.

“I kind of just hoped everything would work itself out,” said the Australian, who went on to win a 4×200-meter freestyle relay gold at the 2024 Olympics. “It wasn’t until I kind of sat down and talked to my psych and the network around me and actually talked about all the things that had kind of gone wrong that (I realized) it’s not a strategy to just kind of coast through life.

“That year taught me a lot in resilience, and it’s definitely made me who I am now.”

Who she is now is one of the best swimmers in the world, one who looks as if she’ll be a major factor at the 2028 Olympics. Her breakout continued Friday at the Pan Pacific Championships, one of the biggest international meets of the year. She held off Katie Ledecky in the 400 freestyle, posting a personal-best and 2026 world-leading time (3 minutes, 58.42 seconds) and winning her fourth medal of the meet, her third gold.

After her morning swim, Pallister called the 400 an event she’s “still trying to figure out” and mentioned being tired of repeatedly seeing 3:59 on the clock after touching the wall. She dipped below it Friday, dripping below her entry time of 3:58.87.

That didn’t quite satisfy her.

“I would’ve liked (3:57), but I think as athletes you always want more,” she said, adding she wanted personal bests this week and is pleased she got them in the 400 and 1,500 freestyles and came within two-hundredths of a second of another in her 200. She has one more individual event left: the 800 freestyle Saturday, which will include another showdown with Ledecky.

The 400 freestyle was one of the most anticipated events of the meet, in part because of the potential showdown of Pallister, Ledecky and Canadian star Summer McIntosh. The final, though, did not include McIntosh, who holds the world record (3:54.18). The four-time Olympic medalist took her preliminary heat too easy and got out-touched by Yaqi Fan, a mistake she said “will never happen again.”

So it was only Ledecky and Pallister — the greatest distance swimmer ever against an ascending one who grew up idolizing her. A decade ago, Ledecky signed an autograph for Pallister, then 14, inscribing it with “Dream big!” On Friday, Pallister led wire to wire, a testament not only to the level she’s swimming at but also a reminder of the rest of the world’s best catching up to the once-infallible Ledecky.

Ledecky, winner of 14 Olympic medals, including nine golds, felt she didn’t start the race quickly enough and wasn’t happy to finish over 4 minutes. She also raved about Pallister, who won two individual medals at the 2025 World Championships.

“She has such great range,” Ledecky said. “It’s just great to have her in all these races and continue to push this sport forward.”

Said Pallister: “To be able to have someone as dominant and successful as her also be cheering and being excited for everyone else’s success is just a testament to who she is, and I think it’s a big reason why the whole world is a fan of Katie.”

Pallister’s performance this week, which comes on the heels of her winning five medals at the Commonwealth Games, has jumped out to her Australian teammates. Matthew Temple said her performance (as well as countryman Sam Short’s in the men’s 400) served as motivation heading into his 100 butterfly win. Short affectionately referred to her as “an animal.”

Pallister called racing “honestly my favorite thing” and said that’s been the case since she was young. Growing up in Sydney, she competed with her brother over everything, whether it was who could eat cereal fastest to who beat the other running home from the beach. That fire makes for a potent combination with her swimming roots. Her mother (and former coach), Janelle Pallister, swam at the 1988 Olympics and won three medals at the Commonwealth Games two years later.

The younger Pallister credited Janelle with never forcing her into the sport and stressing the need to have fun.

“I was often compared to my mom and my mum’s career, and I think she taught me a lot of humility and also how to deal with external pressure really young,” Pallister said. “She pretty much had the playbook to success for me. She’s done everything that I have, just 32 years prior.”

Well, not quite everything. This level of success — the toppling of world record-holders and the quantity of international medals — is new to the family. Pallister’s process, not relying on hope as a strategy, is working.

Other Day 3 Pan Pac notes

• The U.S. women set an American record in the 4×100 freestyle relay, highlighted by Kate Douglass’ leadoff split. She blasted a 51.69, only one-hundredth of a second off Marrit Steenbergen’s individual world record in the 100 freestyle. Douglass opted not to race the individual 100, instead swimming the 100 breaststroke Thursday. She finished fourth in that event.

“My goal was to break the world record,” the 24-year-old said. “It hurts to break the world record. It hurts to be so close to it and not get it, but I’m still really happy with that swim. Obviously that’s a huge best time for me, so I can’t be upset about it.”

Douglass, who trains at the University of Virginia, is one of the world’s most versatile swimmers. She said she plans to double in the 50 freestyle and 200 breaststroke Saturday, the final day of the meet.

• Regan Smith posted a monster preliminary heat time in the 200 backstroke, going 2:04.13, within a second of Kaylee McKeown’s world record (2:03.14).

The 24-year-old, an eight-time Olympic medalist who trains at University of Texas, was unhappy with her 100 backstroke Wednesday — “That was just not the type of swimmer that I like to think that I am,” she told reporters Friday morning — which she said left a chip on her shoulder for the 200.

“I know people have had their opinions about my performance and my teammates’ performances,” she said after the preliminaries. “Hope that shut ’em up for the morning.”

Smith was slower in the evening but still won gold in 2:05.57 but said she was psyched with the day on the whole.

“I think it was more about this morning, and this morning felt like a really great setup swim,” she said.

• The U.S. and Australia won four golds Friday, and Japan and China each won one.

The game has changed quickly.

It was the summer of 2018, days before France kicked off their World Cup-winning campaign that Antoine Griezmann laid out his plans for the big reveal.

‘The Decision’, he teased, would come at the end of a half-hour documentary broadcast on Spanish TV. Barcelona thought they had him, as did most fans when Gerard Pique – whose company produced the show – tweeted a popcorn emoji.

At the end of the documentary, however, Griezmann stood in front of the Metropolitano and revealed he was staying at Atletico Madrid in one of two different endings reportedly filmed to keep the decision secret.

The self-confessed NBA fanatic – inspired by LeBron James’ live show by the same name in 2010, when the basketball star joined the Miami Heat – was attempting to own his narrative. Instead he, and Pique, caught some criticism.

Kyle says that “self-commercialisation” did not have the impact it would have done now if it was Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe.

Griezmann was almost before his time. Many prominent players now share regular updates from their lives on their own YouTube channels – from Haaland, to Ronaldo, Jude Bellingham and Lionesses’ star Ella Toone.

“Players are becoming their own distribution levers, with some in particular taking a driving seat in terms of ‘how I project myself onto the world’ and building their own channels and audience,” explains Kyle.

Now, in many cases, the players do own the narrative and fans are increasingly able to invest in their journeys, which are more accessible than ever.

“Players are far more culturally symbolic than they used to be,” says Kirkham. “It is not that players don’t do endorsements now, but they know they have to resonate with fans, so fans can really latch on to them and get behind them.

“Look at what Marcus Rashford did during Covid in terms of changing actual legislation.

“Young fans want to know players stand for something more – that gives them more chance to follow and pursue them, find a deeper connection with them.

“They look for stuff that is aligned to them, who they are, their causes and where they’re from. I think we will increasingly see that.”

Romell Glave chats exclusively to Sky Sports following his 100m European Athletics success

“2026 was my year of redemption,” Romell Glave exclusively tells Sky Sports two days on from when he stood on the podium draped with a 100m gold medal at the European Championships.

The 26-year-old’s story and journey to the point of becoming European champion in athletics’ marquee event is a remarkable one. “Delayed but not denied,” Glave says, with a twinkle in his eye.

Born in Manchester, Jamaica, Glave moved to the UK at the age of 15, joined Croydon Harriers, and by the age of 17 was the fastest 100m sprinter on the planet for his age group, clocking a time of 10.21.

Injuries hit regularly and harshly over the intervening years. So much so that he spent the majority of 2022 in a back brace having fractured vertebrae – issues first occurring when he was forced to train on grass due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

His back injury meant he was only able to make his European Championship debut for Britain in 2024, aged 24.

At that competition, Glave qualified for the 100m final and claimed the bronze medal in a tight race, but though a quest for more followed, he then fractured and inflamed his back for a second time, forcing him to miss out on the Olympic Games in Paris.

In 2026, he returned with a vengeance to succeed. He won gold in the 60m at a World Indoor Athletics meet in Stockholm – defeating Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson. He broke the 10-second barrier legally for the first time when he ran 9.98 to win the British title in June, and lowered his personal best again to 9.97 in London the following month.

All his work then culminated in European Championship 100m gold in Birmingham on Tuesday.

“It’s been a journey and a half and also a total rollercoaster,” Glave tells Sky Sports. “And I know success was a long time coming.

“I just needed to stay healthy because I knew that with the support I’ve had for the last three years since I had my back fracture, from medical staff like Nick Allen and Peter Horobin who have been there for me, I had a great chance.

Glave was the world’s fastest 17-year-old but injuries held him back up to now

“To be able to stand here as a European champion means a lot. It’s testament to the hard work they put in to get me to the line and also to keep showing up for me because without them, I don’t know if this would be possible.

“It’s been a euphoric moment for me, an unreal feeling. Just a feeling of relief the job is accomplished. This is why we do this sport, it means so much to me.”

‘2026 was my year of redemption – nothing was stopping me from succeeding’

Hit by one injury knockback after another, many athletes may even have called it quits.

Instead, Glave tackled 2026 with an intensive determination to succeed. So much so that even when doubts, nerves or physical issues crept in he was able to channel them out.

It was notable watching the start line to the 100m final just how relaxed Glave appeared, a state very difficult to achieve ahead of an event that means so much and that he would have worked so hard towards. But this was an athlete totally in flow.

“I would say I came into this season just to show a bit of redemption after the loss of years, loss of seasons to injury,” Glave says.

“But to also start this season with a very resilient mindset of: ‘I want to go for everything.’ I was a 2024 bronze medallist at the European Championships and missed the gold medal by a small margin. So why not dream bigger and upgrade my medal to gold?

“That was the aim and objective for the season, from the start of the season. To be European champion and to be able to walk away from from that 100m being crowned king of Europe. It’s an amazing feeling.

“It brings me calmness. I’ve been dreaming of this moment and to be able to live it, it’s very surreal.

Glave and British team-mate Jeremiah Azu finished first and second in the 100m final

“Over the last few days, I have had discomfort in my abdominal muscles, but I was not going to let that stop me from obtaining my objective.

“I was able to go out there, regardless of how I was feeling, the discomfort I was enduring, and just focus on the job that was presented in front of me. I got the job done.

“I was ready for this moment, this occasion. I was ready mentally, most importantly, regardless of how I was feeling emotionally or physically, I wasn’t going to let that take away the moment from me because I prepared all season long for it.

“This season was all about redemption, that’s the theme, and speaking to my sports psychologist, we’ve been working on all of those formulas to make sure I’m preparing the best way possible to get through.”

Glave has tackled 2026 in sensational fashion after a devastating turn in 2024 saw him miss the Olympics

‘2024 back injury left a void in my heart’

Thinking back, Glave lays bare the inner turmoil he experienced having battled through one serious back injury, won a European Championship bronze, but then suffered with his back again to miss an Olympics Games and virtually have to start his career all over again.

“It was very disappointing. After the 2024 European Championships, I could feel I was on that momentum, because the trials were two weeks afterwards.

“My first session back after I was crowned European bronze medallist, I picked up the injury and it was a very sad moment for me. My mind went to missing the Olympics, because everyone trains towards going to that.

“And to get a European bronze and have that momentum going into the Olympics, that’s what everyone wants. To cut the journey short at that moment, it left a a void in my heart. I’m never going to get that moment back, that’s gone.”

Glave had to endure a career filled with serious injuries and setbacks

One man Glave has repeatedly singled out in the aftermath of his success has been coach Michael Afilaka, someone he describes as more than just his sprint coach: “a mentor, life coach, a man of wisdom and integrity.”

Indeed, referencing his working relationship with Afilaka from serious injury to European champion proves very emotional for Glave.

“He’s been doing this for over 20 years and is a private person, but God presented him to me on this journey. Having him beside me has been a life-changing decision.

“During those darkest times of my life, he’s the only that is there. His belief, his dedication to continue to show up for me, I haven’t really seen that before. I haven’t really seen it in my life, in the way he has shown up.

“It’s very emotional just talking about it every time, because he didn’t have to do it, but because of his persona, he wants the best for me.”

Glave spoke emotionally about the time and support coach Michael Afilaka has afforded him

‘The next goal is world domination’

In terms of what’s next, Glave is clear. He wants to challenge on a world level at the top of the sport.

“World domination is now the main goal, but just to have this stepping stone as European champion, I’m focusing on one step at a time.

“This season is like a stepping stone of what is to come for Romell Glave. I’m in a historic British team and now have the ultimate chance as well.

“So to be there and show up in a field of world-class athletes, that’s the main objective now. To perform against those athletes, the world’s best.”