Women’s 50m freestyle - Sarah Sjostrom sweeps the sprints

Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestrom won her third career Olympic gold medal on the final night of swimming from the 2024 Paris Olympics, taking the final of the 50m freestyle at 23.71. After winning a surprising gold in the 100m freestyle final on Wednesday, it was no one’s surprise that Sjostrom won the 50m.

The world record holder and four-time World champion hadn’t lost a major final in this race since 2019 and wasn’t expected to be challenged on Sunday night in Paris as only two other swimmers in the field had broken 24 seconds coming into the day, something Sjostrom did 38 times.

“It means so much,” Sjostrom said. “I won the World Champs a couple of times and also the European Champs, and I have the world record so the pressure was big but I knew I had been under 24 so many times so I had similar feelings before the Rio 2016 100m fly final. I felt like, ‘I can’t lose this’ so it was definitely a challenge to go in there and try to win. I would never underestimate my competitors so of course it was so much fun I was able to win.”

If there were ever any conversations around who the greatest female sprinters of all-time were, Sjostrom made a strong case for herself to be considered one of the all-time greats with her gold here.

"This is definitely my best one (Olympics) with two golds,” Sjostrom said. “I never thought I would win a gold medal at my fifth Olympics.

"I'm not going to be better than this, this is the peak of my career for sure. I'm so proud of what I've done my whole career. I'm going to continue swimming for many years, but I mean, how can I top this ever?"

After so many World titles and world records, she had only one Olympic gold to her name - the 100m butterfly from Rio 2016.

Of course, an injured elbow clouded her Tokyo 2020 campaign, where she swam to an inspiring silver in the 50m freestyle that, to many, was just as good as gold given the circumstances.

In the conclusion of her fifth Olympics in Paris at age 30, Sjostrom stood on the top step of the Olympic podium for the 50m and 100m freestyle.

“It’s been a great journey in the 50m freestyle,” Sjostrom said. “I think in Rio, I made a semi-final but not the final. In Tokyo, I won the silver medal, which was like a gold medal for me because I didn’t have as good of preparations before Tokyo because I broke my elbow six months before the Olympics but this time I definitely had great preparations.

“I am super proud of how I managed to come back and win silver in Tokyo, but this is of course amazing and it feels unreal to come away from this competition with two gold medals.”

Australia’s Meg Harris broke 24 seconds for the first time in winning her first individual Olympic medal with silver at 23.97, Australia’s 17th overall medal of the week in Paris. Harris, coached by Damien Jones at Rackley, previously won three Olympic medals in relays as she won her first individual at age 22.

"I got out there with a goal to enjoy myself and I did,” Harris said. “That was the most fun race I've been a part of. First time under 24 so I can't be more happy with that.

"I couldn't tell you where anyone else was in the race. I just had a goal to put my hand on the wall in the best time I could. I can't do a 50 without taking a breath yet, so I took a breath and after that I had no idea where I was.

"It took me a while to line up all the times. It was shock just for a second, I had no idea what was going on, but then I looked across the other side of the pool and saw Shayna smiling, and that's when it hit me. It's amazing."

China’s Zhang Yufei (24.20) won her ninth career Olympic medal for bronze as she matched her bronze from the 100m and 200m butterfly this week. Zhang, age 26 and coached by Cui Dengrong, won China’s tenth medal in the swimming pool.

“This is my third Olympic Games,” Zhang said. “During the 12 years, I am fully devoted to swimming. I didn’t experience anything besides swimming so after these Olympics, I would like to experience a different aspect of life but it doesn’t mean retirement. Sarah Sjostrom is my idol and I saw a lot of swimmers from Europe and the US that still participate in the Games and they have done well. I would like to go to LA (2028) and become an idol for someone to stand next to.”

Zhang just out-touched American Gretchen Walsh (24.21), who finished fourth and just off the podium.

Poland’s Kasia Wasick (24.33) could not make her first Olympic podium, finishing fifth to match her performance from Tokyo 2020.

Slovenia’s Neza Klancar (24.35) finished sixth overall as the first finalist for her nation in the Olympics since 2008.

China’s Wu Qingfeng (24.37) and Australia’s Shayna Jack (24.39) also swam in the Olympic final.

Men’s 1500m freestyle - Bobby Finke conquers the world and takes the world record with him

Throughout his international career, American Bobby Finke was known for his tremendous finishing kick. It’s not often when a move in swimming has a name attached to it, much like in the judged sport of gymnastics, but if you were run down by Finke’s closing speed, one was ‘Finke’d’ and it became a part of his legacy.

After winning gold in the 800m in Tokyo 2020 after flipping fourth with 50 meters to go, and winning the 1500m in Tokyo with an even faster last 50m, if you were close to Finke at the end, you’d have to have the kick to match.

On Sunday night in Paris, Finke swam a different racing strategy - rather than sticking with the field early, he set the pace.

“I didn’t know how the race was going to play out,” Finke said. “I was feeling pretty good at the first 300m, and I saw I had a decent lead. I really wanted to just hold it. I didn’t want to be the person who runs people down and then get run down. The whole ‘(American) men’s team hadn’t won an individual gold medal’ was in the back of my mind and that was helping pushing me throughout the race.”

For the better part of four years now, the 1500m freestylers of the world had been inching closer and closer to the 14:31.02 world record set by China’s Sun Yang 12 years to the day at the London Olympics. Finke’s lead over the world record grew as the race went on, and the anticipation over whether he could hold off Sun’s closing speed grew and grew.

Finke’s ability to hang on and turn on the legs was no question, it was whether he had the finishing speed to match Sun’s.

On the last 50m, Finke did just that, becoming the fifth man to win multiple 1500m freestyle Olympic gold medals, breaking the world record at 14:30.67.

Finke, coached by Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida, trains alongside Katie Ledecky, who won gold in both the 800m and 1500m freestyle this week. Ledecky gave plaudits to Finke for pushing her in training after she won bronze in the 400m freestyle earlier in the week.

“Having (Katie) as a training partner is something I never thought would happen,” Finke said of Ledecky. “I got the greatest female swimmer training with me every day and she kicks my ass sometimes in practice. She is scary to train with because of how incredible she is but it is something that helps me elevate my own swimming and it has shown these last couple years since she’s joined us.”

After the American men had not won a single individual gold medal of the Paris Games, Finke saved the best swim for last. He joined Mike Burton (1968, 1972), Vladimir Salnikov (1980, 1988), Kieren Perkins (1992, 1996), and Grant Hackett (2000, 2004) as two-time winners in the event that has been swum at every Olympics since London 1908.

“We’ve been talking about that all year since last summer,” Coach Nesty said. “The way we do things training-wise at Florida, he’s not going to fade. Sometimes you just have to believe in what you do.”

Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri (14:34.55), the gold medalist from Rio 2016, won his fifth career Olympic medal at age 29 with silver. Paltrinieri, one of the greatest distance swimmers of all-time, stayed on Finke’s feet the entirety of the race, playing to his strengths on the front end. Paltrinieri, who has swum inside 14:36 a total of six times, added to his legacy in his fourth straight Olympic final.

Paltrinieri spoke of his hunger to keep racing in his fourth straight Olympic final.

“(My hunger) will be always there,” Paltrinieri said. “If I quit today, tomorrow I will miss it. I have always longed to compete. I started without feeling nervous. I feel the same every time I compete, for the European championships, the worlds, the Olympic Games.”

Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen (14:39.63) won his second medal of the week with bronze, backing up his gold from the 800m on Tuesday. Wiffen, who was the World champion this year and the fastest in the world coming in, was expected to challenge the world record, but could not match the speed of Finke, as the 1500m podium matched that of the 800m.

“Happy but disappointed at the same time,” Wiffen said. “Happy because I’m Olympic champion, I’m (a) bronze medallist, but disappointed with the time and the race, but what can we do?

“I came third this time, which is not a bad result. I've been on the other end of it, coming fourth. To get a bronze medal in the Olympics, I'm sure if I did that to start the week, people would be very happy. Becoming an Olympic champion on the third day and I'm finishing off on the ninth day, it's a bit sad, but overall very pleased.”

Wiffen, coached by Andi Manley at Loughborough University, won Ireland’s third medal of the swimming program in Paris.

Hungary’s David Betlehem (14:40.91) had a stellar swim in finishing fourth at age 20, moving up to 16th all-time with his swim. Betlehem and Turkey’s Kuzey Tuncelli (14:41.22) put on quite the race across the pool as Tuncelli was Turkey’s first ever Olympic finalist in swimming.

Both Betlehem and Tuncelli have been tabbed as future stars in swimming, with Betlehem building up a big profile in open water swimming and Tuncelli in the pool, and could be seen fighting for future podium spots in Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.

Tuncelli, age 16, was the World Juniors champion last year and also set the world junior record in finishing fifth.

Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi (14:43.35) finished sixth ahead of France’s David Aubry (14:44.66) and Damien Joly (14:52.61) in perhaps the fastest field ever assembled.

Men’s 4x100m medley relay - China ends the United States gold medal streak

Image Source: Qin Haiyang and Xu Jiayu of Team People's Republic of China celebrate after winning gold in the Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final on day nine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

For the first time since the event was introduced in the Rome 1960 Olympics, the United States was beat to the wall in the final of the men’s 4x100m medley relay. On Sunday night, the People’s Republic of China touched the wall first to win gold in a thrilling race.

The team of Xu Jiayu (52.37), Qin Haiyang (57.98), Sun Jiajun (51.19), and Pan Zhanle (45.92) swam 3:27.46 in dethroning the Americans for the first time in history. Pan’s split was the fastest in history as he ran down the American team and French team on the last 100 meters. Pan celebrated his 20th birthday today as he helped create history for China.

“I think this gold medal is of great significance to the entire Chinese team,” Qin said. “At these Olympics, we have experienced a lot of challenges and we have come a long way. This achievement is the most inspiring of all. That showed our team solidarity and we finally reached our peak and it is truly inspirational. Our goal today was to win this gold medal and break the stranglehold of the United States and we’ve done it.”

“I was very happy because this gold medal represents the breakthrough from China and it represents team spirit and cohesion,” 50m freestyle bronze medalist Zhang Yufei said of the men’s team. “We are happy for the rise of the swim team in China.”

The United States did not go down without a fight in winning silver at 3:28.01 with the team of Ryan Murphy (52.44), Nic Fink (58.97), Caeleb Dressel (49.41) and Hunter Armstrong (47.19).

“It’s good for the sport to have the whole world involved and you get fun racing out of it,” Dressel said of the competitive field in Paris. “That was a very exciting race until the last leg. I don’t think anyone knew who it was going to be. It’s really good for the sport of swimming.”

France won the bronze at 3:28.38 in the country’s first ever medal in that event as the team of Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (52.60), Leon Marchand (58.62), Maxime Grousset (49.57), and Florent Manaudou (47.59) broke the national record by a full second.

This bronze gave France its seventh medal in the pool, tying for the most successful Olympics for a French swim team since London 2012.

"As I said at the start of the week, I wanted to come and see you, the journalists, with an Olympic medal, so I’m so happy,” Ndoye-Brouard said. “I’ve dreamed of it for four years, I worked every day for it. That’s a wonderful reward.”

“That was so good,” Marchand said, who won his fifth medal in Paris. “At 300m we hugged each other because we thought we’d be first. That was emotionally special, the last Olympic race at home. That’s the cherry on the top of the cake tonight.

“When I came out of the water, my ears exploded because of the crowd sound. All my family was there. My friends from USA and from Toulouse. It was crazy.”

“It’s so cool,” Manaudou said. “I tasted a lot of world and European medals for the relay but never with this energy. To see these emotions for Maxime and Yohan was the best way to finish the week. I’m so happy, thanks to Leon, who launched us so well at the start of the week.

“We won’t live something like that again. Even if we host the European championship in 2026, it won’t be with that crowd, so I told the boys to enjoy it all around the pool, even if it takes 20 minutes.”

Grousset gave the team the lead at 300 meters, as Manaudou dove into the water with a chance at history, with over 14,000 people in the La Defense Arena cheering him on. It was reminiscent of the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay from the Sydney 2000 Olympics when Ian Thorpe ran down Gary Hall, Jr. of the United States in ending the Americans’ unbeaten streak. At 350 meters, Manaudou had the lead over Armstrong and Pan, but the world record holder and Olympic champion ran down the field, winning China’s second ever Olympic men’s relay medal in swimming.

“This is magic for me,” Pan said. “We make a good team and we got a good result.”

The quickest splits outside of the medalists came from Great Britain’s Oliver Morgan (52.83), Great Britain’s Adam Peaty (58.16), Canada’s Ilya Kharun (50.46), and Great Britain’s Matthew Richards (47.31) and Canada’s Josh Liendo (47.31) as the British team finished fourth at 3:29.60 ahead of Canada (3:31.27).

Australia (3:31.86) finished sixth, ahead of Germany (3:32.46) and the Netherlands (3:32.52).

Women’s 4x100m medley relay - United States ends Paris with a world record

Image Source: Gold Medalists Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske of Team United States pose after the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay Final at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

The American women closed out the swimming program of the 2024 Paris Olympics with a world record in the medley relay at 3:49.63, taking down the 3:50.40 the nation set to close out the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju.

The team of Regan Smith (57.28), Lilly King (1:04.90), Gretchen Walsh (55.03), and Torri Huske (52.42) dominated the rest of the world, winning the gold by over three seconds as the Americans won the country’s eighth gold medal in the pool in Paris.

“I was actually just thinking, ‘What was that record?’, before we broke it,” King said. “It's cool to be a part of that relay (team) and watch it get faster and faster, with pretty much the same people. It's awesome to see everybody improving. An awesome way to cap off the meet.”

The United States has won gold or silver in this relay at every Olympics they have competed in since the event was introduced in Rome 1960.

“We are historically very strong in this relay, and we weren’t about to change things this now,” Smith said. “We did exactly what we came here to do, and we had so much fun the whole way.”

Walsh tied the fastest butterfly split all-time, matching Sarah Sjostrom’s 55.03 from the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. This was her second swim of the night after she was fourth in the 50m freestyle final, missing bronze by 0.01.

“It was tough, obviously, seeing fourth by 0.01,” Walsh said. “That always stings, but I was proud of my race, regardless. That event doesn't have that much pressure for me, so I wasn't really disappointed.

“I knew that I had an even bigger, better opportunity to be on top of the podium in the relay. I just did what I did last night: move on quick and put out the best possible time I could for these ladies.”

It was the first career gold medal for Smith and her fifth medal of the week, as she broke the Olympic record on the lead-off. Huske won her fifth medal in the pool from Paris while Walsh won her fourth. King was the only one of the four to not make the individual podium, but she had the fastest split of the entire field on the breaststroke leg.

“It’s been awesome, this relay is the one we probably take the most pride in as a country,” King said. “I know from being on this relay for eight years, it’s definitely one I take a lot of pride in. I’m just super proud of these girls and what a way to cap off the week.”

Australia won the race for silver at 3:53.11 with the team of Kaylee McKeown (57.72), Jenna Strauch (1:07.31), Emma McKeon (56.25) and Mollie O’Callaghan (51.83) as Australia has won gold or silver in this relay at every Olympics since 1996.

"You know that's what you strive for and you keep striving for personal bests and all of that but it's more the journey all the way that I'm going to remember for the rest of my life,” McKeon said. “It's not going to be these medals. It's going to be all the people and all the lessons and just the journey as a whole."

China won bronze at 3:53.23, as the team returned to the podium for the first time since Beijing 2008. The team of Wan Letian (59.81), Tang Qianting (1:05.79), Zhang Yufei (55.52), and Yang Junxuan (52.11) won China’s 12th medal of the Olympics in swimming, the most the nation has ever won in one Olympics

The quickest splits outside the top four came from Canada’s Kylie Masse (58.29), Japan’s Satomi Suzuki (1:05.08), Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil (55.79), and France’s Beryl Gastaldello (53.15) as Canada finished fourth at 3:53.91, nearly winning the bronze.

Japan (3:56.17) finished fifth ahead of France (3:56.29), Sweden (3:56.92), and the Netherlands (3:59.52). 

Relive the First Eight Day of Swimming in Paris