Men’s 100m Butterfly - Kristof Milak returns to the top step

Hungary’s Kristof Milak (49.90) found himself back on the top step of the Olympic podium on Saturday night in the 100m butterfly.

At one point in time, Milak was the best butterfly swimmer in the world. That time was in 2022, when he won both the 100m and 200m butterfly World titles in front of his adoring fans in Budapest. Milak was the star of the moment, swimming the fastest ever 200m butterfly in one of the most impressive swims and memorable moments of the last two decades.

But after 2022, Milak found himself on “rock bottom,” scratching out of the 2023 World Championships, citing being unable to race against the world’s best swimmers either physically or mentally. He returned to racing earlier this year in 2024, the results were promising, but there were doubts over his condition.

At age 24, Milak answered all his doubters by winning the 100m butterfly on Saturday night in Paris, a dream that seemed so far away not too long ago.

At 50m, Milak turned fourth (23.40), but he showed his 200m prowess on the back 50m, running down the field and punching the wall to upgrade his silver from Tokyo 2020, and his silver from the 200m butterfly on Wednesday.

Emotion was seen on his face when he was handed his Olympic gold medal by 2012 200m breaststroke champion Daniel Gyurta.

Milak won his fourth career Olympic medal, living up to the hype he created as a junior swimmer in 2017. He won Hungary’s second gold medal of the week in Paris.

The silver went the way to Canada’s Josh Liendo (49.99) for his first career Olympic medal. Liendo turned second at the 50m (23.24), and rocketed out of the turn in the lead. At 75 meters, Liendo was looking to become Canada’s first ever Olympic gold medalist in this event. Liendo, who trains at the University of Florida for 1988 gold medalist Anthony Nesty, nearly brought back the gold medal to Nesty he won 36 years ago, but he won the silver, and made history for his nation Canada.

“It was good after missing the podium in the 50 Free,” Liendo said. “I knew how close I was, and I wanted the gold for sure. I just didn't have it on the touch. I didn't time that finish well. But it's good to get on there, even though I did want to get first.”

Ilya Kharun (50.45) won the bronze for Team Canada to make history for the nation - it was the first time Canada had two men on the podium for the same event in a swimming event at the Olympics. Canada previously had two women make the 400m IM podium at a home Games in Montreal 1976, but never two men.

“That was awesome,” Liendo said. “Me and Ilya were talking about it. I told him, ‘You’re close. You're right on the medal.’ It'd be cool to get two guys. It's the first time we've ever done that in history, so it's awesome to see him get on the podium there.”

“I think it’s a lot of hard work and dedication,” Kharun said. “Me and Josh, a couple days ago, spoke about how crazy it would be (if) me and him both got on the podium. I'm so glad we spoke it into existence. It’s such a great feeling.

Kharun doubled up his bronze from the 200m butterfly as the 19-year-old, coached by Herbie Behm at Arizona State University, showed he has a bright future, but also cemented his legacy already with a memorable showing at these Olympics.

“Means a lot,” Kharun said. “This is what I wanted, but I knew (in) the 100 fly, the competition was so crazy that the top three was just a dream for the 100 fly. I'm just so glad I finally got it. I was in disbelief when I touched the wall, and it's just so great.

“It's such a great honour, and I'm so happy to have this moment. It's just so, so special.”

Last year’s World champ Maxime Grousset (50.75) was the sentimental favorite to win gold here as he was looking to win France’s seventh medal in the pool this week, which would tie France’s best ever showing in an Olympics in this sport. Alas, it was not meant to be him, as he finished fifth overall and off the podium at age 25.

Switzerland’s Noe Ponti (50.55) nearly made history for his nation with back to back medals in this event after he won bronze in Tokyo 2020. Ponti, age 23, finished fourth, and could have been Switzerland’s first ever two-time Olympic medalists as the Swiss team only won its first ever Olympic swimming medal three years ago. The team now has three medals all-time, showing a bright future for the nation.

Nyls Korstanje (50.83) of the Netherlands finished sixth overall after leading at 50 meters. Australia’s Matthew Temple (51.10) and Japan’s Naoki Mizunuma (51.11) also swam in the Olympic final.

Women’s 200m IM - Summer McIntosh golden once more

For the eighth straight Olympics, a woman has won both the 200m and 400m IM finals, as 17-year-old Summer McIntosh of Canada won her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics, winning the 200m IM after already taking out the finals of the 400m IM and the 200m butterfly.

It was one of the most hyped races of the week as the final included three individual gold medalists from the week - McIntosh (400m IM, 200m butterfly), American Kate Douglass (200m breaststroke) and Australian Kaylee McKeown (100m, 200m backstroke) along with 2022 World champion Alex Walsh of the United States.

McIntosh fought for everything she was worth in this race, doing battle with the American duo of Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass, who won silver and bronze in Tokyo 2020, and were looking to be the first gold medalist for the United States since Tracy Caulkins won in Los Angeles 1984. The women’s 200m IM was the longest gold medal drought for the American women’s swim team and all signs were pointing to that streak ending on Saturday night at the La Defense Arena in Paris.

McIntosh was leading at the 100m mark, getting out in front of the two Americans who pounced on the breaststroke leg. Walsh, who has one of the pullous in the entire world, pulled even on the push-off, and took the lead at 150 meters. With a half second lead over McIntosh, Walsh looked on her way to history, ending the gold medal drought for the United States.

Walsh, who swam at the Tracy Caulkins pool while in high school at Nashville, Tennessee, was hanging on for dear life as McIntosh and Douglass, both known for their finishing speed, were charging hard.

With 15 meters to go, Walsh still had the lead but McIntosh and Douglass were gaining.

McIntosh found something else at the finish and hung on to win gold at 2:06.56, Douglass silver at 2:06.92, and Walsh bronze at 2:07.0.

“It's pretty surreal,” McIntosh said. “I'm just so proud of myself and how I’ve been able to recover and manage events.

"The reason I'm able to do this is just because of all the hard work and dedication I've given to this moment, along with all my family and my teammates, and my coaches have also worked so hard for me to be here today.”

But as the race went to review, the crowd held its collective breath, and ultimately Walsh was disqualified for a backstroke to breaststroke turn violation.

It elevated Australia’s Kaylee McKeown (2:08.08) to the bronze for her third medal of the Games with two more relays to come.

“I was really heartbroken for her,” Douglass said. “I felt like she deserved to win that medal, and she deserved to be on the podium with me.”

McIntosh became the 15th swimmer to win three individual gold medals in the same Olympics, and the ninth swimmer to win four individual medals in the same Games.

“I haven’t gotten a chance yet (to reflect on my week),” McIntosh said. “After I touch the wall for the relay tomorrow, I will be able to celebrate more. I just try to stay as low key as possible and not overthink what I’ve done and that works for me, to not get too caught up in the moment but also try and enjoy it.”

“I feel like I learned a lot after night one,” McIntosh said. “I got pretty hyper (after the 400m freestyle silver) but having that day off on day two was nice to be able to reset and I learned my lesson on making sure I’m getting to bed as early as possible and eating and sleeping, and just recovering. I’ve learned throughout past World Championships, no matter the result, to not get too high or low on emotion and just stay as steady as possible. That helps not draining yourself mentally.”

Douglass won her third medal of the Games after taking on a big program this week.

“I feel like it’s good to celebrate in the moment and enjoy the moment after the race but it’s good to keep the celebrations until after you’re done swimming,” Douglass said. “After my 200m breast, I celebrated a little bit that night but I had to refocus for my 200m IM the next day. I feel like now I’m done swimming, I can look back at what I accomplished and get excited about it.”

China’s Yu Yiting (2:08.49) finished fourth ahead of Great Britain’s Abbie Wood (2:09.51) and Canada’s Sydney Pickrem (2:09.74) also swam in the Olympic final.

Australia’s Ella Ramsay scratched out of the final due to illness.

Women’s 800m Freestyle - Katie Ledecky = Greatness

Katie Ledecky of the United States has long been considered the greatest woman swimmer of all-time. Due to her longevity and dominance that has stretched 12 years now, she has made a case to be considered the best.

On Saturday night, she did something no woman had ever done - win four Olympic gold medals in the same individual race.

After initially breaking on to the scene as a 15-year-old at the 2012 London Olympics, Ledecky hasn’t lost a major 800m freestyle race since. On Saturday, she faced perhaps her toughest battle of them all as Australia’s Ariarne Titmus pushed her the entirety of the 800 meters.

Titmus has been Ledecky’s biggest rival since the Australian beat her head to head in the 400m freestyle at the 2019 World Championships. Titmus has since gone on to dominate the 400m, but Titmus had never beaten Ledecky over 800 meters.

Tonight, Ledecky led at every single turn, but her lead over Titmus was never more than two seconds. Titmus stayed on her feet the whole way, but Ledecky was able to hold her ground, staying consistent on all 16 x 50s to win gold at 8:11.04.

“I knew Ariarne was going to give me everything she had,” Ledecky said. “We got 36 hours of rest, so I knew it was going to be tough all the way down to the finish. I just had to stick in the race, and trust myself, trust my training, trust that I know how to race. I’m just relieved I got my hand on the wall.”

Ledecky, coached by Anthony Nesty, won her ninth career Olympic gold medal at age 27.

“After the race, I told Ariarne, ‘thank you for making me better,’ Ledecky said. “I think we bring the best out of each other, and knowing you have to step up and race somebody like her at these meets definitely pushes you in training every day.”

Titmus, coached by Dean Boxall, swam a new best time at 8:12.29 to move up to third on the all-time list.

“It’s such an honor to race someone like Katie,” Titmus said. “I was 11-years-old when she won in London and I was in grade 6 and that’s remarkable to me that she is still winning at this level. I have incredible respect for her. I know how hard it is to defend a title and to go four in a row is unreal, and I gave it my best shot. I am really proud of my effort tonight and I’m happy that she was the one to beat me to keep her streak alive.”

Fellow American Paige Madden had the swim of her life in winning bronze at 8:13.00, making a major move at 600 meters to draw even with Titmus. At age 25, this is her first career Olympic medal after a difficult go after the Tokyo Olympics.

Madden, coached by Bob Bowman and Erik Posegay, moved up to fourth all-time with her swim as she came in with a lifetime best of 8:20.71 from the Olympic Trials in June.

“It was a big drop,” Madden said. “It’s been building over the past year with my change in training and doing more yardage. I have some of the best coaches in the world with Bob Bowman and Erik Posegay - they push me both physically and mentally and I think I was underperforming in the 800m all year. It just never really clicked. Finally at Trials, I wanted that spot so I did what I did to qualify and after Trials, my goal was to get a medal. I think I really stepped up in Croatia and in Raleigh at our training camp. That was what was on my mind. I had some really taxing sets that gave me the confidence going into this race and that came to a culmination tonight and things finally clicked so that was great!”

“That was really special,” Ledecky said. “I know how hard Paige has worked over the summer. I told her, 'do you realise you broke the old world record before I broke it?' She didn’t really process it."

Italy’s Simona Quadarella (8:14.55) also swam a lifetime best in the 800m freestyle in finishing fourth, matching her fourth from the 1500m on Wednesday. Quadarella was unable to match her bronze from Tokyo 2020 but she moved up to seventh all-time with her swim.

Germany’s Isabel Gose (8:17.82) finished fifth ahead of Australia’s Lani Pallister (8:21.09), France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (8:22.80) and New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather (8:23.27). 

Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay - United States wins the one they wanted the most

After a disappointing showing in the Tokyo 2020 mixed medley relay final, the United States of America closed out the penultimate night of swimming with a gold and world record in the mixed medley relay, exorcizing the demons of the fifth place finish three years ago.

The American team of Ryan Murphy (52.08), Nic Fink (58.29), Gretchen Walsh (55.18) and Torri Huske (51.88) broke the world record at 3:37.43, lowering Great Britain’s world and Olympic marks from Tokyo 2020 at 3:37.58.

“It was very special,” Fink said. “It was when I turned and saw my parents that I kind of got a little emotional. But yeah, I mean this is a special moment not just for me but for all the supporting members of my life, family, friends, everybody who helped get me here.”

The Americans were pushed every step of the way by China, who won silver for the second straight Olympics. The team of Xu Jiayu (52.13), Qin Haiyang (57.82), Zhang Yufei (55.64), and Yang Junxuan (51.96) lowered the world record as well in winning silver at 3:37.55.

Swimming the same lineup with two men up front and two women on the back, the Chinese led the first 200 meters thanks to a stellar split from World champion Qin.

The American women, who both won silver in their respective strokes this week, were able to bridge the small gap, and give the United States its sixth gold medal of the Paris Olympics in swimming.

“They put me in a tremendous spot and I just didn't want to let them down,” Huske said. “I could see (Yang) on the way down and I felt really good and I just wasn't going to lose that lead for them.”

China’s Qin rebounded from his disappointing seventh place finish in the 100m breaststroke to deliver a 57 split on the second leg to put China in contention.

“For the individual events, I think it’s a pity,” Qin said when translated in the press conference. “It was a good opportunity for me to fight and get this medal for the Chinese team. It was a very good opportunity. But because of personal reasons and my personal thoughts and the stress, I didn’t perform very well (in the individual) so I think it’s a pity.

“The team showed a lot of support to me, so these few days, they really helped me a lot and showed me support. They really believed in me to recover to my best performance and condition. I think it’s really because of the team and their help, that’s why I had this top performance back in the team competition.”

Australia won the bronze at 3:38.76, matching the nation’s bronze from Tokyo 2020. The team of Kaylee McKeown (57.90), Joshua Yong (58.43), Matthew Temple (50.42), and Mollie O’Callaghan (52.01) won Australia’s 16th medal of these Games in the pool.

France finished fourth (3:40.96) from the outside in a valiant effort, ahead of Canada (3:41.41) and the Netherlands (3:43.12). Defending champion Great Britain (3:44.31) finished seventh ahead of Japan (3:45.17).

Semis Wrap

Women’s 50m Freestyle

Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem (23.66) got oh-so-close to her own world record in the 50m freestyle semis, just 0.05 from her time at last year’s World Championships, swimming the top time of the semi-finals by a half second.

“I’m just focusing on myself, not everyone else,” Sjostrom said. “I know there are a few girls that can definitely go under 24 (seconds) tomorrow. Some of them have relay today, so maybe they are saving energy. I’m just swimming in my lane. Whatever everyone else is doing, I don’t know.”

Sjostrom earlier won the 100m freestyle on Wednesday, and won silver in Tokyo 2020. With a gold medal tomorrow night, she could cement her legacy as one of the greatest sprinters ever.

Gretchen Walsh of the United States turned in the second fastest time at 24.17 as she will expectedly swim two finals tomorrow - the 50m freestyle and the butterfly leg on the 4x100m medley relay.

China’s Zhang Yufei (24.24) will also be expected to do the double after she was fourth in the semis behind Poland’s Kasia Wasick (24.23), who has yet to make an Olympic podium at age 32. Wasick won silver in Budapest 2022 and bronze in Doha 2024 at the World Aquatics Championships and could elevate her fifth place finish from Tokyo 2020.

Australia will have two finalists as well with Shayna Jack (24.29) and Meg Harris (24.33) in fifth and sixth.

China’s Wu Qingfeng (24.40) finished tied for seventh in the semis with Slovenia’s Neza Klancar, who became the first Olympic finalist for her nation since Sara Isakovic won the silver in the 200m freestyle in Beijing 2008.

Men’s 1500m Freestyle

Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen showed no signs of an 800m hangover with the top seed in the 1500m freestyle heats, moving through as the top seed at 14:40.34. Wiffen won the 800m final on Tuesday night and will be going for the double on Sunday night on the last night of swimming.

"I'm not going to lie, I feel like I was carrying a bit of fatigue still,” Wiffen said of his 1500m heat. “I haven't really slept properly since the 800. I'm slowly getting like eight hours. It's just not a perfect sleep that I want.

"At the start it was a bit uncomfortable and, then I really settled into the pace. I was actually kind of surprised I went that fast. It felt to me like a 14:50 swim, and then I went 14:40. So maybe my pace is a bit off in my head, but we'll see."

Wiffen will get a challenge from the last two Olympic champions in Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Bobby Finke (14:45.31) of the United States and Rio 2016 champion Gregorio Paltrinieri (14:42.56) of Italy. Finke and Paltrinieri joined Wiffen on the 800m podium earlier in the week and could put on the same type of race in the 1500m tomorrow night, with Wiffen in lane four, Paltrinieri in lane five, and Finke in lane seven.

Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi (14:44.20) could spoil the party tomorrow as the third seed, lowering his season best from 14:48 this year from the French Elite 2024.

France advanced two to tomorrow’s final with David Aubry (14:44.90) in fourth and Damien Joly (14:45.52) in seventh. Aubry, age 27, finished tied for fifth in the 800m behind Jaouadi, who was fourth.

Türkiye’s Kuzey Tuncelli (14:45.27) made history for his nation as the first Olympic finalist in the swimming pool. Tuncelli, age 16, was the World Juniors champion in 2023 and followed up that breakout performance with European Championships gold and a 14:41 at the European Juniors in July.

Tuncelli swam out of a non-seeded heat to set the tone for a fast final to come.

“That’s an incredible time,” Tuncelli said before the last two heats finished. “I am so happy for this time and I should be in the final. I’m so happy.”

Hungary’s David Betlehem (14:45.59) finished eighth in the heats as 14:45 is the fastest eighth place time in this event at an Olympics or World Championships, usurping the 14:49.53 it took to make the Beijing 2008 Olympic final.

Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay

France is one medal away from tying its most successful Olympics in swimming in history. The 2012 team won seven medals at the London Olympics while the Paris team has won six. In the final day of prelims, the French men swam the top seed in the 4x100m medley relay with the team of Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (52.99), Leon Marchand (59.03), Clement Secchi (51.39), and Rafael Fente-Damers (47.95) at 3:31.36 to garner lane four in tomorrow night’s final.

"We had a blast,” Secchi said. “We had a great team relay. Yohan (NDOYE-BROUARD) started off really well. Leon (MARCHAND) gave us an incredible relay. So I could only swim well.

"Rafael finished in style in front of China's Pan (Zhanle). We had fun. First time of the series. That's great. The work is done."

"To be able to get through to the end I was a little bit stressed,” Fente-Damers said. “I've already done this ten thousand times in my life, so I just had to do it again and to have Pan next to me. I stuck to the line to hold the wave if he passed me. He never passed me. It was enough to advance to the final and now we can go for the medal in the final."

The French team is expected to bring in Maxime Grousset on butterfly and Florent Manaudou on freestyle as this would be France’s first ever men’s medley relay Olympic medal.

"I think we all want to medal or win,” Marchand said. “I think we have a good chance. Afterwards, we don't know what will happen. It's the last (swimming) event of the Olympic Games at home. So it's going to be crazy. I think we're going to enjoy it."

The United States has never lost this relay at the Olympics and is seeded third for tomorrow at 3:31.62. The team of Hunter Armstrong (53.26), Charlie Swanson (59.73), Thomas Heilman (51.15), and Jack Alexy (47.48) advanced to the final as the team is expected to bring in at least three fresh bodies for tomorrow’s final.

China, one of the expected countries to challenge the United States, placed second in the heats, presumably with its finals team at 3:31.58. The team of Xu Jiayu (53.58), Qin Haiyang (58.51), Wang Changhao (51.75), and Pan Zhanle (47.74) would become the first Chinese men’s team to win a medal in this event at the Olympics.

The quickest splits outside the top three came from Great Britain’s Oliver Morgan (53.21), Netherlands’s Caspar Corbeau (58.94), Nyls Korstanje (50.27) and Canada’s Javier Acevedo (47.76), as Netherlands (3:31.80), Great Britain (3:32.13), Australia (3:32.24), Canada (3:32.33) and Germany (3:32.51) will compete for medals in that event tomorrow night. 

Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay

The final event of the Olympic swimming program tomorrow night will be the women’s 4x100m medley relay as Australia and the United States will do battle one more time to close out the 2024 Games.

Australia, the defending champion from Tokyo 2020, swam the fastest time of the heats at 3:54.81 with the team of Iona Anderson (58.67), Ella Ramsay (1:06.79), Alexandria Perkins (56.59), and Meg Harris (52.76) as the team will be expected to make a complete change in its lineup tomorrow night.

The United States is looking to get the gold medal back after silver in Tokyo 2020 as the team of Katharine Berkoff (58.98), Emma Weber (1:07.39), Alex Shackell (57.32) and Kate Douglass (52.71) qualified fourth overall at 3:56.40. The team is expected to bring in four new swimmers tomorrow night.

Canada, winner of the bronze from Tokyo 2020, is seeded second at 3:56.10 with the team of Ingrid Wilm (59.42), Sophie Angus (1:06.07), Mary-Sophie Harvey (57.68), and Penny Oleksiak (52.93).

China (3:56.34), Japan (3:56.52), Sweden (3:57.33), France (3:57.40) and the Netherlands (3:57.48) also qualified for the Olympic final as the quickest splits came from France’s Emma Terebo (59.16), Japan’s Satomi Suzuki (1:05.52), Japan’s Mizuki Hirai (56.32), and Marrit Steenbergen (52.40) of the Netherlands.

• Day 1: Australia takes two golds to open first night of swimming in Paris
• Day 2: Leon Marchand delivers on a storied night in French sports history
• Day 3: Summer McIntosh and David Popovici answer hype, become Olympic champions
• Day 4: Kaylee McKeown, Daniel Wiffen on top of the world on night four in Paris
• Day 5: Leon: The Professional; Marchand does the double
• Day 6: Summer in Paris - McIntosh wins another gold in fastest 200m butterfly in 15 years
• Day 7: Leon Marchand, Florent Manaudou give France night to remember