Bobby Finke successfully defended his gold medal on the last day of swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympics, shattering the world record in the 1,500m freestyle.
The American swimmer smashed Chinese swimmer Yang Sun’s performance of 14:31.02 from London 2012 by finishing the race in an amazing 14 minutes 30.67 seconds, staying under the world record pace the entire way.
His victory also guaranteed that the United States would maintain their 124-year record, extending their dominance in the Olympic Games with a single male swimming champion.
After winning the 800m freestyle on Tuesday, race favourite Daniel Wiffen of Ireland took home a bronze medal instead of a second gold. Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri came in second.
With six medals overall, the 23-year-old tied their record from 2012 and became the first Team Ireland athlete to win multiple medals in the Games in 28 years.
In the meantime, Team USA broke the American record of 3:50.40 set at the 2019 World Championships by capturing gold in the women’s 4×100-meter relay in 3:49.63.
However, the men’s 4×100-meter relay team was defeated by China, snapping a 64-year winning record, and missed out on an 11th consecutive gold medal in the medley.
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