It’s day 9 in Tokyo and the last day of a lucrative place for Team USA at these Olympics: the pool.
Olympic medal tracker | Time schedule
Team USA had a spectacular final day in the pool. Caeleb Dressel started it with an Olympic record of 21.07 seconds to take gold in the 50-meter freestyle. As soon as he was lifted off the springboard, there was no turning back for the sprint star.
Right after that, Bobby Finke, who sprinted the final 50 meters to win the 800 meter freestyle, came out and did exactly the same over the 1,500 meter freestyle. He hovered in fourth place before going too late to his second long-distance gold and becoming the first American swimmer in 37 years to win the 1,500-meter freestyle.
The brilliant day for Team USA continued with the 4×100 women’s relay, which put in an almost perfect race. Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby, Torri Huske and Abbey Weitzeil missed gold by 0.013 seconds and finished second behind Australia.
The last race of the day was the men’s 4×100 meter relay – an event the USA has never lost. Swim in lane 1, Ryan Murphy started the backstroke, followed by Michael Andrew in the breaststroke, Dressel in the butterfly swim and Zach Apple finished strong in the freestyle.
The Team USA quartet set a world record time of 3:26:78 to win gold.
Gold medals are awarded elsewhere in both tennis and golf, and the day in Tokyo is crowned with the nomination of the “fastest man in the world” as the winner of the men’s 100-meter race.
Here’s the best of Olympic action:
Caeleb Dressel finished his Olympic single run perfectly and won the 50-meter freestyle in the last swim training session with an Olympic record of 21.07 seconds. The Frenchman Florent Manaudou came second, the Brazilian Bruno Fratus took bronze.
The fastest man in swimming. ™ ️
Caeleb Dressel sprints away with the gold medal in the 50m freestyle. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/7hc0kCV2NY
– Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 1, 2021
King single
Caeleb Dressel breaks the Olympic record and wins GOLD in the men’s 50m free run! #Tokyo Olympics
📺 ABC
💻 https://t.co/FmEtvutDRA
📱 NBC sports app pic.twitter.com/m4EVgfIDtE
– #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2021
Bobby Finke has a different gear. After the sprint to the finish line in the 800 meter freestyle, Finke repeated the same thing over the 1,500 meters. He sprinted for his second Olympic individual gold medal and set the second fastest time in US swimming history with 14:39:65. The Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk came second, the German Florian Wellbrock came third.
“It means the world to me. I was just trying to hold on and get my hand on the wall,” said Finke.
In the 800 meter freestyle, Finke shortened his personal best by 5.71 seconds in 2021 to break an American record and win Olympic gold. In the 1,500 meter free race in 2021, he picked up 9.05 seconds from his personal best to win gold. With Finke’s victory, the USA won gold medals in both men and women in the 1,500 meter freestyle.
This was the first victory for Team USA in the men’s 1,500 meter freestyle in 37 years.
Distance KING, @Robert_Finke! 👑🥇 # TokyoOlympics x @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/M2ivsjBVWi
– USA Swimming (@USASwimming) August 1, 2021
USA 800/1500 Sweep !! 👍🏼 @ USASwimming #BobbyFinke
– Katie Ledecky (@katieledecky) August 1, 2021
BOBBY FINKE WINS 1500M GOLD 🥇 @ TeamUSA x #TokyoOlympics
📺 ABC
💻 https://t.co/FmEtvutDRA
📱 NBC sports app pic.twitter.com/d9ecHOL4eY
– #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2021
Carrying on a golden tradition
Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel and Zach Apple from Team USA swam a world record and won the 4×100 meter relay in 3:26:78. This is a race the US has never lost. Great Britain grabbed silver, followed by Italy.
You will see the fastest men’s layer relay in the world! 👊💥
: 𝟐𝟔.𝟕𝟖 #TokyoOlympics x @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/iRsTSFp9Uh
– USA Swimming (@USASwimming) August 1, 2021
GOLDEN HOUR. 🥇 # TeamUSA finished the swimming competition with a gold medal in the men’s 4 x 100m medley relay. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/3CWjrzmyZb
– Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 1, 2021
Silver for Saunders
With a throw of 64 feet, 11.25 inches (19.79 meters), 25-year-old American Raven Saunders won a silver medal in the shot put.
The drama. The angel. @ GiveMe1Shot gives us everything. #TeamUSATF pic.twitter.com/0d0HqgOPtL
– USATF (@usatf) August 1, 2021
Gave her a shot and she took it. @ GiveMe1Shot claims silver in the shot put. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/GMDiztUOSF
– Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 1, 2021
Australia’s McKeon sets Olympic record
Australian Emma McKeon continues to thrive in Tokyo, winning the women’s 50-meter freestyle with an Olympic record swim of 23.81 seconds. This is her sixth Olympic medal in Tokyo, her third gold. Second was Sarah Sjöström from Sweden and Pernille Blume from Denmark took bronze.
Olympic record and GOLD for Emma McKeon from Australia!
This is her SIXTH medal at the #TokyoOlympics.
📺 ABC
💻 https://t.co/FmEtvutDRA
📱 NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/sAdH8FrDLI
– #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2021
Australia won gold in the women’s 4×100 meter relay on the last day of swimming in Tokyo. The Americans Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby, Torri Huske and Abbey Weitzeil took second place – just 0.013 seconds behind the gold medalists.
The US and Australia were neck and neck for most of the race. Australia finished with an Olympic record of 3:51:60. Canada took bronze. The Australian McKeon, who took part in the relay race, won her second gold of the night – and her seventh overall Olympic medal in Tokyo.
Only the second woman to have won seven medals in a single Olympics, setting a record from 1952, McKeon now has the highest number of Olympic medals of any Australian Olympic athlete.
The future is bright
Today’s water events may have helped inspire the next generation.
We personally think that this #FutureOlympian NAILED this dive! #TokyoOlympics (🎥 Tod Farr / TT) pic.twitter.com/kN5ybzZyx4
– NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 31, 2021
The sweep is complete
Team USA conquered the first three places and reached the finals in two different disciplines – the women’s hammer throw and the 3,000 meter obstacle course.
Off to the finals! All three #TeamUSATF Women’s Hammer Throw athletes advance! # Tokyo2020 @ brookeandersen8 (74.00m) @MzBerryThrows (73.19m) @ DeannaPrice32 (72.55m) pic.twitter.com/5Q4VKQtVlL
– USATF (@usatf) August 1, 2021
This is our team 🇺🇸! All three reach the final of the women’s 3000 meter obstacle race. @emmajcoburn (9: 16.91) @ courtfrerichs8 (9: 19.34) @val_constien (9: 24.31) #TeamUSATF #JourneyToGold # Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/D4OLuVe8FW
– USATF (@usatf) August 1, 2021
Pedal to the medal
The American cyclist Hannah Roberts won silver in her Olympic debut in the BMX freestyle.
Hannah Roberts wins silver at the first Olympic #BMXFreestyle park competition! @UCI_BMX_FS @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/iNuf2jggOE
– Olympia (@Olympics) August 1, 2021
We can relate
“OMG YOU’RE PLAYING MY SONG.” – the horse in the club pic.twitter.com/xRNJ5N6acE
– #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2021
Kiwis celebrate in style
After beating France in the GOLD medal game of the #TokyoOlympics 7s tournament, New Zealand women rugby players performed a traditional haka. pic.twitter.com/M0BcH0x6bn
– #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2021
New Zealand won their first gold medal in Olympic rugby sevens with a 26-12 win over France in the women’s final at Tokyo Stadium.
Farewell Tokyo
Katie Ledecky says goodbye to the Olympic Village, but the journey does not end there for the 24-year-old swimmer. She wants to try to compete in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 “and maybe beyond”.
Thank you Tokyo, and thank you all for your tremendous support this week and over the years! I could hear you all! 🥳
Brings 2 gold, 2 silver and countless memories back to the USA❤️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/XpXx7oDELQ
– Katie Ledecky (@katieledecky) July 31, 2021
With a broken neck!
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle celebrated the 25th anniversary of winning a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
25 years ago, WWE legend Kurt Angle won Olympic gold with a BROKEN NECK 👏 pic.twitter.com/QKPvQFGp8e
– SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 31, 2021
On that day 25 years ago, I won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling. #withabrokenfreakinneck 😆There is no better way to celebrate my 25th anniversary than with my lovely family …… My wife and kids said I should buy a boat now. We’ll see 😃 # 25yearsofgold #olympics # 1996 pic.twitter.com/y89Ruk3ct8
– Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) July 31, 2021
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