U.S. sets swimming record, takes mixed medley
The United States made up for a disappointing showing in Tokyo by setting a world record in the 4×100 mixed medley relay.
Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske held off China for a winning time of 3:37.43, breaking the mark of 3:37.58 set by Britain when it won gold in the wild and woolly event’s Olympic debut three years ago.
With each team picking two men and two women, the U.S. and China both went with their male swimmers in the first two legs.
Murphy put the U.S. in front on the backstroke, China’s Qin Haiyang slipped past Nic Fink on the breaststroke, but Walsh put the Americans back in front on the butterfly before Huske held off Yang Junxuan to secure the gold.
The Chinese team, which also included Xu Jiayu and Zhang Yufei, took silver in 3:37.55. The bronze went to Australia in 3:38.76.
WHAT AN EFFORT.
TORRI HUSKE HOLDS ON FOR THE 4X100 MEDLEY RELAY GOLD AND WORLD RECORD! 👏#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/bIxkbrGiN6
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024
Marchand swam the breaststroke leg for France but couldn’t add to his already impressive haul of four individual golds. The French finished fourth, more than two seconds behind the Aussies.
When the British won gold in 2021, the Americans finished fifth. Britain was seventh this time.
The U.S. bumped its total to six golds, one behind leader Australia with four events remaining Sunday. The Americans are assured of winning the overall medal count with 25.
Another gold for McIntosh
Summer McIntosh stamped herself as one of the swimming stars of the Paris Olympics with her third individual gold medal.
The 17-year-old Canadian chased down American Alex Walsh and held off another U.S. swimmer, Kate Douglass, to finish in an Olympic record of 2:06.56 in the 200m individual medley.
Douglass grabbed the silver in the star-studded final at 2:06.92, but the Americans lost the bronze when Walsh, the silver medalist in this event at Tokyo who recorded a time of 2:07.06, was disqualified because she did not finish the backstroke segment on her back.
McKeown, who touched fourth, was bumped up to the bronze at 2:08.08.
It was a bitter blow for Walsh, whose younger sister, Gretchen, has won a gold medal and two silvers in Paris.
“I’m just devastated. I think that Alex deserves so much,” Gretchen told reporters after she helped the U.S. won gold in the relay. “She’s worked so hard and I don’t really know how to put that into words. It’s really sad, but I know that she’ll be back and better than ever.”
Gretchen dedicated her win in the mixed relay to her sister.
“I don’t really know how to describe it,” she said of the DQ. “I knew that I was going to have to move on from that quickly in the moment and give her a big hug, tell her that I’m here for her. And then go out and do this [win the mixed relay] in her honor.”
McIntosh set several world records ahead of the Paris Olympics, and she backed up the enormous expectations by claiming a starring role at La Defense Arena along with Léon Marchand and Ledecky.
McIntosh also won gold medals in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM, plus a silver in the 400 freestyle. She fell just 0.88 seconds — the margin of her loss to Titmus — shy of matching Marchand’s four individual golds.
“It’s pretty surreal,” said McIntosh, who became the first Canadian athlete to win three golds in a single Olympics. “I’m just so proud of myself and how I’ve been able to recover and manage events.”
Hungarian claims butterfly gold
Kristóf Milák of Hungary won the men’s 100 butterfly, chasing down three swimmers on the return lap.
Milák was only fourth at the turn, but he rallied to touch in 49.90. Canada grabbed the silver and bronze, with Josh Liendo finishing in 49.99 and Ilya Kharun next at 50.45.
Milák had failed to defend his Olympic title in the 200 butterfly, settling for a silver behind French star Marchand.
Milák claimed silver in the 100 fly three years ago, but he didn’t have to worry about the guy who beat him in that race. American Caeleb Dressel stunningly failed to qualify for the final, posting only the 13th-fastest time in the semifinals Friday.
Kharun added another bronze to the one he garnered in the 200 butterfly.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
