World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024: Sarah Sjostrom storms to fourth women's 50m freestyle title
The Super Swede completed her third consecutive World Championship 50m freestyle and butterfly double in Doha. American Kate Douglass took silver ahead of Poland's Katarzyna Wasick.
Swimming
Sarah Sjöström confirmed her status as swimming's sprint queen by clinching her fourth 50m freestyle world title at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships on Sunday (18 February).
The 30-year-old chose not to swim the 100m freestyle in the Qatari capital, and completed her third consecutive 50m freestyle/butterfly double at the World Championships.
Sjöström had to fight her way to the front with American swimmer Kate Douglass starting quickly. But the Swede soon forged ahead, touch the wall in 23.69, just 0.08 outside her own world record set at last year's Worlds in Fukuoka.
Douglass clocked 23.91 to take silver with Katarzyna Wasick of Poland a close third with 23.95.
“That was amazing. It was a very fast race with the three girls under 24 seconds and pushing all the way, but I managed to put my hand on the wall first,” Sjöström said after the race.
“I am very proud of that. I enjoyed it, and I came in with the confidence… and I was excited for this race to see what I could do.”
On Saturday, Sjöström won her sixth consecutive world title in the 50m butterfly to continue her age-defying form in the pool.
She has won a medal at every World Championships, bar one, since her 2009 debut where she won the 100m butterfly title as a 15-year-old.
At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, she claimed gold in the 100 fly in a new world record (which still stands) as well as silver in the 200m freestyle and bronze in the 100 free. Five years later, at Tokyo 2020 (in 2021), she took silver in the 50m freestyle.
She does not plan to compete in the 100 free in Paris, and has not raced the 100 fly since finishing seventh at Tokyo 2020.