Caeleb Dressel Steals Show Again With 17.30 Relay Split

TOKYO —

Relief done over Caeleb Dressel.

Facing a television camera a few feet from the puddle at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, the newly minted gold medalist panted and choked dorsum sobs and searched for the right words.

The swimmer conveying the burden of being the natural successor to Michael Phelps, the most busy Olympian of all fourth dimension, finally had the first private Olympic gold medal of his career.

"I knew that weight was on my shoulders," Dressel said later. "I'd won [Olympic] relay medals, merely never private, and then it was actually special."

In one of the tightest races at the Summer Games, Dressel edged Australia's Kyle Chalmers at the wall to win the 100-meter freestyle Th. Dressel finished in 47.02 seconds, an Olympic record and six-hundredths of a 2d improve than Chalmers, the defending champion in the effect.

Dressel, who owns the third-fastest time in history in the result, led after the first l meters. He used his sprawling 76-inch wingspan — just four inches shorter than Phelps — to tear into the water with strokes that seemed longer than the competitors in the loaded field.

"It's unlike," Dressel said of the private medal. "I didn't want to admit information technology, but now that I did it, I can. It's a lot different. You can't rely on anyone else. It's merely yous and the h2o. In that location's no one in that location to bond yous out. It'due south tough."

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

After anchoring the U.Due south. 100-meter freestyle relay to win gold this week, Dressel embraced the loftier stakes he faces each time he springs into the pool.

"I dear living in the pressure," he said. "It'south why nosotros race. Information technology brings out the all-time in u.s.a.."

But the expectations heaped on the 24-twelvemonth-old'south wide shoulders are different than any other swimmer at the Games. Later winning seven golds at the world championships in 2017 and a record viii medals at worlds in 2019, Dressel positioned himself every bit Phelps' heir. It's a weighty comparing. Phelps, after all, won 28 medals at the Olympic before retirement following the Rio de Janeiro Games.

Phelps, providing color commentary for NBC in Tokyo, blasted the U.South. decision to get out Dressel off the 200-meter freestyle relay in the final a solar day earlier.

"It'south shocking," Phelps said. "Y'all know, in my stance, he's probably the all-time 200 freestyler in the earth. He can probably put up one of the all-time times that we've seen. Leaving him off that relay, to me, I recall makes information technology a lot harder to win the gold medal."

The U.S. placed fourth, breaking a streak of winning the event in four consecutive Olympics. Chalmers swam the relay for Australia — which took bronze — and perhaps the extra exertion while Dressel rested made a difference in the narrow finish of the 100 freestyle Thursday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Before in the day, Bobby Finke delivered the most unlikely consequence of the competition. The 21-yr-onetime entered the Games with the 12th-best entry time in the 800 freestyle. Advancing to the concluding, much less reaching the podium, appeared to be a distant possibility in the start time men have contested the event at the Olympics.

Finke's performance in the concluding didn't wait remarkable at get-go. He cruel as far dorsum equally sixth place just crept up to fourth at the final plough.

And so something seemed to take control of his body. He passed 1 competitor afterwards another equally U.Southward. coaches and swimmers in the stands jumped up and downward and shouted encouragement. He touched the wall in kickoff place in 7:41.87 to win the first distance gold for the U.S. since 1984. The time was more than half-dozen seconds better than his mark entering the Games.

"I noticed x meters out I was catching up a little bit of ground and that was the simply motivation I needed to endeavor and pass and go my mitt to the wall beginning," Finke said.

He swam the concluding l meters in 26.39 seconds — his fastest split of the race by more than two seconds — to shell Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri by two-10ths of a 2nd.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

In other finals, Regan Smith (silvery) and Hali Flickinger (bronze) gave the U.S. women their first medals in the 200 butterfly since 2000. And Katie Ledecky anchored the 200-meter freestyle relay that took argent. The stop gave Allison Schmitt, who swam a leg on the relay, the 10th Olympic medal of her career.

Dressel volition likely add to his gilt medal haul in the coming days. His packed schedule yet includes the 100 butterfly, in which he owns the earth record, and the l freestyle, in addition to likely joining ii relays. That gives him a chance to win a Phelps-similar 6 golds.

Simply that's in the future. For at present, the relief of finally owning an individual gold is enough.

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Source: https://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/story/2021-07-28/caeleb-dressel-wins-gold-tokyo-olympics-katie-ledecky

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