Paris 2024 swimming: All results, as David Popovici wins gold, Matthew Richards takes silver in dramatic men's 200m freestyle

A lunge for the wall decided it all in a dramatic men’s 200m freestyle swimming final at Paris La Defense Arena on 29 July at Paris 2024.

The top seed coming into the final, Romania’s David Popovici, won the gold medal at 1.44.72, followed by Great Britain's Matthew Richards at 1:44.74 with the silver and Team USA's Luke Hobson in the bronze-medal position at 1:44.79.

Popovici was all smiles following his gold-medal performance, a first gold medal in swimming for Romania. Popovici finished in fourth at Tokyo 2020, making this also a moment of redemption for the 19-year-old.

"I feel amazing," said Popovici. "It is so great to be here. So many Romanians in the crowd. It’s beautiful, it’s a dream come true. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s so simple, yet so beautiful.”

Great Britain's Richards brought up the mad dash of the last 25 metres, saying, "I thought I might have got it. I thought I'd got the touch, and it came right down to the finish."

Richards had complicated feelings about taking the silver medal in such a close race, saying, "I'm over the moon and extremely frustrated at the same time. That's the way of sport, it's a real rollercoaster.

"Unfortunately, it didn't quite go my way. But at the same time, I'm an Olympic silver medallist. It's huge for me, individually. I've got to learn from all of that."

Team USA's Hobson was in good spirits following his bronze-medal performance, saying, "I feel great. I couldn't be happier. It was a really close race and I gave it everything I had in the last 50 metres."

Swimming: 200m freestyle medals

Gold David Popovici, Romania
Silver Matthew Richards, Great Britain
Bronze Luke Hobson, USA