Caeleb Dressel says competing in the Olympics is a 'week of hell'

• Caeleb Dressel called the Olympics a "week of hell."
• Dressel said the mental and physical exhaustion makes most of the Olympics not enjoyable.
• Dressel said it's still all worth it to compete in the races.

The Olympics are a chance for athletes to achieve their dreams, but they're also a grind, according to American swimmer Caeleb Dressel.

Dressel won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, but spoke afterward of the physical and mental grind competing at the games.

"This is not easy, not an easy week at all," Dressel had said while in Tokyo, according to USA TODAY Sports. "Some parts were extremely enjoyable. I would say the majority of them were not. You can't sleep right, you can't nap, shaking all the time. I probably lost 10 pounds. I'm going to weigh myself and eat some food when I get back. It's a lot of stress we put on the body."

Before departing Tokyo, a tired-looking Dressel, in sweats and glasses, spoke with NBC's Mike Tirico and said he was tired from not sleeping well and was hoping to sleep on the plane.

"I guess I'm just too tired to sleep," Dressel said.

Dressel spoke about the experience on CBS's "This Morning," calling the Olympics a "week of hell."

"It's a week of hell, if I'm being quite honest," Dressel said. "Being on the podium, of course, is enjoyable. But the majority of - not just myself, not just swimmers, I think a majority of all athletes - it's not necessarily fun, the core of the whole process.

"Like I said, you go your whole life for one moment that boils down to a race that lasts a couple seconds, if you're a little bit off that day - I wasn't perfect in any race. I wasn't perfect mindset-wise going into any event. Every ready room is different, every year is completely different. And there's parts of it that suck."

Of course, this year's games also further robbed athletes of the joy of the Olympics. There haven't been spectators and Olympians could not bring family or friends along. They also have essentially been quarantined between their competition venues and the athletes village, as they haven't been allowed to go out in Tokyo amid a surge of COVID-19 cases.

Still, Dressel emphasized on CBS that the sacrifice and hard work is worth it for a chance to compete.

"At no point in that quote did I say none of it was worth it," Dressel said. "It was all worth it, all a great learning experience."