The United States set two world records on the final night of swimming at the Paris Olympic Games Sunday, winning the gold medal count against his Australian rival and easing the pain of the first defeat in history in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay.
Bobby Finke has set a new standard in the 1,500m freestyle and the Americans rounded off a thrilling nine days at La Défense Arena with a new record in their 4x100m medley relay.
Lilly King made up for a disappointing performance in her individual events by giving the Americans the lead in the breaststroke.
It was then Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske, two of the biggest American stars of these games, who brought home the record in 3 minutes and 49.63 seconds, breaking the record of 3:50.40 set by the United States at the 2019 world championships.
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Regan Smith kicked off the backstroke leg, winning a relay gold medal for the second straight night after starting her Olympic career with five silver medals and a bronze.
Reigning Olympic champions Australia took silver this time in 3:53.11. Bronze went to China in 3:53.23.
Four world records were set during the meeting, including three by the Americans.
The United States finished with eight gold medals, edging out rival Australia, which won seven events. It was still the lowest total for the U.S. team since the 1988 Seoul Games, where it was defeated by an East German doping program.
The Americans finished with 28 medals overall at these Games, two fewer than their total from three years ago in Tokyo.
China stunningly won gold in the men’s 4×100 medley relay, ending American dominance that dated back to the event’s introduction at the Rome Games in 1960.
The only time the United States did not win gold was in 1980, when it boycotted the Moscow Games.
The winning team included Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun, both of whom were among about 20 swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance at the Tokyo Games but were allowed to compete. The result is sure to draw fierce criticism from other nations who say the Chinese have cheated with impunity.
But the real star of the Chinese team was Pan Zhanle, who had earlier set a world record by winning the 100-meter freestyle and pulling away from American Hunter Armstrong on the final leg to reach the finish line in 3 minutes, 27.46 seconds.
The Americans had to settle for silver in 3:28.01, while France took bronze in 3:28.38, giving Leon Marchand his fifth medal of the Games, in addition to his four individual golds.
Finke maintained a record pace throughout the race and really made the difference at the finish. He completed the race in 14 minutes, 30.67 seconds, breaking the record of 14 minutes, 31.02 seconds set by China’s Sun Yang at the London 2012 Games.
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Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri took the silver medal in 14:34.55, while the favourite for the race, Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen, was unable to continue his momentum in the 800m freestyle. He was never decisive and settled for bronze in 14:39.63, narrowly edging out Hungary’s David Betlehem for the final podium spot.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström won her second gold medal of the Paris Olympics, racing furiously from one end of the pool to the other to easily claim the 50-metre freestyle title on the final night of swimming on Sunday.
Sjöström, 30, competing in her fifth Summer Games, had already won the 100m freestyle, an event in which she holds the world record, but only decided to swim at the insistence of her coach.
She was more surprised than anyone by this victory, which made her brimming with confidence heading into the 50m freestyle.
Sjöström clocked 23.71 seconds, just shy of the world record of 23.61 she set at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka, Japan. In a race that is usually decided by hundredths of a second, the Swedish star turned that into a relative victory. She was fastest at the start and clearly took control by the halfway point of the single lap.
Australia’s Meg Harris took silver in 23.97, while China’s Zhang Yufei took bronze in 24.20. For Zhang, another swimmer embroiled in a doping scandal in China, it was her fourth bronze of the Games, in addition to the silver.
Walsh, in his first swim of a busy night, narrowly missed out on a medal in 24.21.
