Swimming: Team USA swims to gold in men's 4x100m freestyle relay final at Paris 2024 Olympics
The United States of America powered to victory over Australia and Italy at Paris 2024 in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay in swimming at Paris La Defense Arena on 27 July.
The American quartet of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel won the gold medal in dominant fashion, touching the wall in 3:09.28.
Alexy swam a confident first leg, touching the wall in second behind the People’s Republic of China’s Pan Zhanle.
Guiliano wasted no time off the starting block, putting Team USA in first place by the time he reached the 150m mark. He passed the figurative baton to Armstrong, who left the rest of the field chasing his wake, clocking 46.75 seconds on the third leg.
The responsibility of bringing the team home in first place fell on the more than capable shoulders of Dressel, a seven-time Olympic champion.
Dressel swam a controlled, but nonetheless thunderous, leg, securing the first gold medal for American athletes at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
“You can't explain this moment until you're on the podium watching the flag go up,” said the now eight-time Olympic champion. “[For] Hunter [it] actually happened before the flag went up. It was really emotional for me seeing that. I remember how it was for me, my first gold. I lost it."
It was the 11th time Team USA had won the event at the Olympic Games, but all that mattered to Armstrong was that he swam the best leg possible.
“I definitely didn't expect it,” he admitted. “I just went in.
“I would give my entire body and soul up for these boys. I knew I had to give Caeleb [Dressel] everything I had, and so I was glad I was able to get my job done."
Unlike the Americans, it was a race of mixed performances for the Australian quartet.
Jack Cartwright and Flynn Southam got the team off to an inconspicuous start, but a solid third leg from Kai Taylor positioned the team right behind the top three teams heading into the final leg.
A monstrous final leg from Kyle Chalmers, who clocked a blistering 46.59 seconds, saw the Aussies surge into second place and claim the silver medal with a time of 3:10.35.
In a reversal of the podium from the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Australia finished ahead of the Italian quartet of Alessandro Miressi, Thomas Ceccon, Paolo Conte Bonin and Manuel Frigo.
The Italian team swam a largely consistent race, passing a fading Chinese quartet to secure the bronze medal with a time of 3:10.70.
Swimming: Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay Podium
Gold: United States of America
Silver: Australia
Bronze: Italy