Paris 2024 Swimming: Cameron McEvoy wins gold in men's 50m Freestyle - full results

A deafening crowd at Paris La Defense Arena cheered Cameron McEvoy to gold in the men’s 50m freestyle at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to take the first-ever gold for Australia in this event with a time of 21.25. Great Britain’s Ben Proud finished 0.05 behind for silver with a time of 21.30, marking a first 50m freestyle medal for Team GB as well. And Florent Manaudou thrilled the home crowd by winning bronze with a time of 21.56, this follows on his silver medal in the event at Tokyo 2020.

Team USA’s Caeleb Dressel, the defending gold medallist from Tokyo, finished in sixth.

This was the first Olympic medal for the 30-year-old McEvoy, swimming in his fourth Olympic Games, and he told reporters after his win: “Two years ago, I didn’t even think that I would have a lane here. I was not even thinking about swimming. I was just enjoying other sports and training just to have fun and learn. Within that two-year turnaround period, a lot changed and it has been so nice.”

He shared that he took a different approach to win gold at Paris 2024, saying: “It has been a very long road but an exciting one. It was a huge act of creation and a risk, doing a different approach, but obviously it paid off and it was an incredible journey.”

He shared that his approach was “very strength and technical based. No more laps; total kilometres per week went from about 30 per week to 102, and it was more a finer technique and approach to the stroke”.

McEvoy also incorporated learnings from outside of swimming in his training, saying: “I learned so much about other sports, about track, 200m and gym and strength training and rock climbing. I always had a feeling that the traditional approach to sprint training for myself personally could be enhanced, so I just thought, 'Right, I will create what I think might be the go, test it out and see where it takes me.”

Silver medallist Proud was thrilled with his finish, saying: “I haven’t had a single moment of doubt since that race. The race I wanted to execute was executed. That was probably the best swim I’ve done in a championship final.

“I feel this time around, I did what I wanted to do. 0.5 of a second would have been a different change, but to be second behind Cam [McEvoy] seems like the most fitting thing. The cherry on the top, sharing that podium with Florent [Manaudou]. We share the same coach. We shared so much together the last two years. Training and living, focused on our sport.”

Proud reflected on his disappointing finish at Tokyo 2020, where he finished fifth after finishing fourth in Rio 2016, saying: “Three years ago is when I burst into tears. I couldn’t take the fact that I had kind of failed in my race. But that was probably the most fitting thing I went through, because if I hadn’t gone through that, I wouldn’t have experienced these past three years, which has had the highest of highs and lowest of lows.”

Swimming: Men’s 50m freestyle podium

Gold: Cameron McEvoy, Australia

Silver: Ben Proud, Great Britain

Bronze: Florent Manaudou, France

See all the results on Olympics.com