Cheers erupted all over the country when American swimmer Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke clinched gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. It was a good day for America at the showpiece event as both the athletes brought in double the glory for the country.
It is no news that Dressel is a favorite and the country was betting on him to win. Dressel participated in the Men’s 100m freestyle in swimming. The country was going through a medal drought in this country, ever since Nathan Adrien won gold at the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul.
The Olympic champion did not just win a medal, he also managed to break the Olympic record set by Australia’s Eamon Sullivan in the year 2008, clocking 47.02.
He was competing with other medal winners in the past, like Rio Olympic champion Australia’s Kyle Chalmers who came in second place, and Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov who secured the third position.
Post his win, Dressel said in an interview that he knew that the entire nation was watching him but he did not feel pressured. He was confident in the pool.
“I wasn’t worried about anything at all…it means a lot, I knew the weight was on my shoulders,” he said.
The swimmer had made his presence felt in the 2016 Olympics held in Rio. He has also won the 4x100m freelance relay in Tokyo.
Finke was a surprise as he was lagging behind Gregorio Paltrinieri, the Italian ace, and Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, but at a time when Wellbrock lost steam, Finke powered ahead to finish first in 7:41.87.
Paltrinieri’s illness caused him to finish second.
It wasn’t just the men but also the women who shined just as brightly at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. America did not have much luck at the Women 200m Butterfly ever since 2000, but the curse was broken after nearly 11 years as Regan Smith and Hali Flickinger took silver and bronze respectively.
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