Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice savaged by trolls after shock move to Dubai: 'Was this your third or fourth take of the video?'

Aussie Olympic swimming champion Stephanie Rice has been lashed online after posting a video to social media about her plans for a new start in Dubai.

A tearful Rice posted an emotional clip of herself sitting in first class on the journey out of the country last week.

'Packed up my whole live (sic) in Australia, bought a one-way ticket to Dubai to start a new chapter and I'm feeling all the emotions surrounding this fresh start … but God is good,' Rice captioned the video.

She also posted: 'The past few months have been a rollercoaster of emotions, which have brought about so many wonderful changes which I'm excited to share with you as I start this new journey in Dubai.

'I'm sure you all have a lot of questions about this move and trust that I will share it with you in due course. At this stage I have no set plans yet in Dubai which is a little scary, I just knew I needed to follow this calling from deep within.

'Moving overseas has been something I have felt called to for so long, it just was never quite the right time…but now the time has come! I want to share this journey with you in hopes it inspires you to honour your own inner-callings and to have faith in the path ahead, even if you don't yet know what it's going to look like right now…cause I sure don't!!

'I guess that's life though right…just taking one step at a time and trusting that you will always know what to do next when you get there.'

The 35-year-old's post sparked a backlash from fans who blasted the swimming champion.

'Was this your third or fourth take of the video,' one person commented.

'Must be so hard getting great opportunities and flying first class,' said another.

'Nothing says 'I'm not bragging' like filming yourself in first class on an international flight,' said a third.

The Olympic Gold Medalist appeared on Channel 7's SAS Australia earlier in the year where she spoke out about her struggles since retiring from swimming.

'I felt really lost after I finished swimming,' she said.

'I didn't feel like I had any purpose or any direction and I didn't feel like anybody understood.

'I felt like I haven't really trained for anything since I finished competing – like I haven't really had a goal to work towards, one specific thing.'