Team USA won its first gold medal at the Paris Olympics after a dominant performance in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
The quartet of Caeleb Dressel, Hunter Armstrong, Chris Guiliano and Jack Alexy held off their Australian rivals to win gold in 3:09.28 in the final final of a raucous opening night at La Defense Arena.
The Australians were forced to settle for silver in 3:10.35, while Italy took bronze in 3:10.70.
Dressel claimed his eighth career Olympic gold medal when he led the team to a second consecutive 4x100m freestyle title.
Matt King and Ryan Held swam in the morning heats, but were replaced by Alexy and Giuliano for the final. King and Held will also receive gold medals.
The U.S. men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team claimed the country’s first gold medal in Paris
Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel celebrate their success
Dressel earned his eighth career Olympic gold medal while anchoring the team.
This comes after Katie Ledecky was forced to settle for bronze in the women’s 400m freestyle, while Ariarne Titmus again claimed gold.
The Australian defended her Tokyo gold in a battle dubbed the ‘Race of the Century’, leading from start to finish.
However, Ledecky was not only defeated by Titmus. The American did not even manage to take home the silver medal, while the phenomenal Canadian Summer McIntosh won her first Olympic medal.
It was a highly anticipated three-way duel, as all three held the world record for that distance for the past three years.
In the highly anticipated final, Tasmanian-born ‘Terminator’ Titmus clocked three minutes and 57.49 seconds to beat McIntosh (3:58.37) and Ledecky (4:00.86).
More to follow.
