Dawn Fraser Denies Bigotry after Kyrgios, Tomic Comments

Australian Olympic swimming great Dawn Fraser has defended herself against charges of bigotry after saying tennis stars Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic should set a better example or go back to where their parents came from.

Fraser, who won eight Olympic medals including four golds, made her comments in an interview on Australian television Tuesday, when asked about recent petulant behavior by Kyrgios and Tomic.

The 77-year-old Fraser said "they should be setting a better example for the younger generation of this great country of ours. If they don't like it, go back to where their fathers or their parents came from."

Australian-born Kyrgios has a Greek-born father and Malaysian-born mother while Tomic was born in Germany to a Croatian father and Bosnian mother.

Kyrgios was forced to defend himself against allegations of “tanking” or not trying at a stage of his loss against Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon, and his matches through the tournament included repeated instances of arguing with umpires.

Tomic was dropped from Australia's Davis Cup team after his strident criticism of Tennis Australia and Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter.

Fraser was asked whether she felt Kyrgios' behavior was the result of having too much money and fame while too young. She agreed, saying "we don't need them here in this country if they act like that."

The 20-year-old Kyrgios responded in a Twitter post in which he described Fraser as a "blatant racist, Australian legend."

"Throwing a racket, brat. Debating the rules, disrespectful. Frustrated when competing, spoilt. Showing emotion, arrogant," he wrote.

Kyrgios's mother, Nill, said on Twitter "I have no comments on Dawn Fraser's nasty racist attack...but she is out of line. #unaustralianbehaviour."

Australia's Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane told the National Press Club "contrary to what the likes of Dawn Fraser might say, most Australians do not tell migrants and their children to go back to where they came from."

But Fraser strongly defended her comments.

"If you take (my comments) that way then I'm sorry that you take it that way, but I'm not racist at all," she told Fairfax Media. "I said if they don't want to be Australians then maybe they should go back to the country where their parents come from. That's not being racist.

"I can see it being interpreted that way ... but it wasn't intended that way."

Kyrgios was booed by spectators when he put in minimal effort to compete during the third game of the second set against Gasquet after a dispute with the chair umpire.

Fraser said "it's absolutely disgusting. I am so shocked to think that he went out there to play and he tanked ...that's terrible."

During her swimming career, Fraser also developed a reputation for defiant behavior. She was arrested for allegedly stealing a flag from outside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo during the 1964 Olympic Games but was later released without charge.

The Australian Swimming Union suspended Fraser for 10 years but later overturned that decision.