American swimmer Caeleb Dressel broke down in tears after failing to defend his Olympic gold medals in the 100-meter butterfly and 50-meter freestyle events on Friday.
Dressel —who has 8 Olympic gold medals— was favored to claim the top spot on the podium at the Paris Games after winning gold in both events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He qualified for the Olympic 50-metre freestyle final at the Paris Games but finished sixth in the race with a time of 21.61 seconds, more than 35 seconds behind Australia’s Cameron McEvoy, who won gold.
Less than an hour later, he was eliminated in the semifinals of the men’s 100-meter butterfly. Dressel finished fifth with a time of 51.57 seconds, more than a minute behind Frenchman Maxime Grousset, who won in 50.41 seconds.
That’s when photographers captured the 27-year-old Florida resident crying, perhaps overcome by the disappointment elite athletes often feel when they don’t perform at their best under extreme pressure.
Dressel won a gold medal in Paris in the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay with the U.S. team – the country’s first at this year’s Games – on Saturday.
Dressel caught a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a world record of 49:45 seconds in the men’s 100-meter butterfly and set an Olympic record in the men’s 50-meter freestyle of 21:07.
