Paris 2024 swimming: All results, as Sarah Sjöström storms to 50m freestyle gold to complete the Olympic sprint double
Swedish superstar Sarah Sjöström smashed the wall in first place to win the women’s 50m freestyle gold medal on Sunday (4 August) to claim the sprint double at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
During the semi-finals, she set an Olympic record of 23.66 seconds, adding to the six fastest times she holds in the event.
The 30-year-old Sjöström out-touched Australia’s Meg Harris and Zhang Yufei of the People’s Republic of China for a winning time of 23.71 seconds. Harris followed in second place in 23.97s with Zhang rounding out the podium clocking 24.20s.
In doing so, Sjöström added to the gold she won in the 100m freestyle earlier in the swimming programme here at Paris 2024 and the 100m butterfly gold from Rio 2016.
Since the 50m freestyle was added to the Olympic programme in 1988, only six swimmers have won the sprint double at a single Games: Kristin Otto (Seoul 1988), Inge de Bruijn (Sydney 2000), Britta Steffen (Beijing 2008), Ranomi Kromowidjojo (London 2012), Emma McKeon (Tokyo 2020) and now Sjöström.
Sjöström, or "Gold Bae" as she is known among her teammates, has been the undisputed speed queen, boasting four world long-course titles in the splash-and-dash event — 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2024. To highlight her credentials, Sjöström holds the Olympic and world records in the event.
The super Swede bows out of her fifth Olympics with six medals — three gold, two silver and a bronze — which she won across the butterfly and freestyle events.
Women's 50m freestyle results
Gold: Sarah Sjöström (SWE) 23.71
Silver: Meg Harris (AUS) 23.97
Bronze: Zhang Yufei (CHN) 24.20