2024 Paris Olympics Finals Day 3: Fun Facts

Tonight’s finals session wasn’t one of the fastest ones we’ve seen, but it was more exciting for another reason. Many athletes won historic medals for their countries, including Mona McSharry’s first medal for Ireland since 1996 and Popovici’s first medal for Romania since 2004. We saw an abundance of close races, with the difference between third and fourth place in the 100 breaststroke being a hundredth of a second, and the difference between first and fourth in the 200 freestyle being 0.15 seconds. Here are some more fun facts about tonight’s session. 

WOMEN’S 400 IM

• Summer McIntosh won Canada’s first-ever gold medal in the event, with a time of 4:27.71.
• Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant continue the dynasty of American excellence in the women’s 400 IM, continuing the streak of an American woman on the podium since 2004. Furthermore, they continue the streak of two American women on the podium, with 2021’s being Weyant and Hali Flickinger
• Weyant joins Yana Klochova (Gold, 2000/2004) and Kristzina Egerszegi (Gold 1992, Bronze 1996) to become the third woman to win multiple Olympic medals in the 400 IM. 
• McIntosh and Grimes are both still junior swimmers (born in 2006) for a few more days. Summer McIntosh turns 18 on August 18th, and Katie Grimes turns 18 on August 1st. 

MEN’S 200 FREE

• David Popovici won Romania’s first Olympic medal since 2004, with his gold medal placing him the highest in Romania’s history in the event since his own fourth-place performance in 2021.
• His winning time of 1:44.72 would not have won Olympic gold since 2000. Ian Thorpe was .01 seconds faster in 2004. In a sport that is progressively getting faster, that’s more evidence of a slow pool.
• Luke Hobson won the United States’ first medal in the 200 free since Conor Dwyer’s bronze in 2016, earning the seventh bronze and fifteenth total medal in the event for the United States.
• Popovici’s win over Matt Richards is the smallest margin of victory we’ve ever seen in this event, with Popovici besting Richards by 0.02 seconds. This is by far the closest podium we’ve ever seen, with Popoivici ahead of third place Luke Hobson by only 0.07.
• Lukas Märtens tied for fifth, placing him next to Paul Biedermann for the highest finish from a German man in the 200 free at the Olympics. 
• Danas Rapsys becomes the highest placing 200 freestyler for Lithuania, with his fifth place tie with Märtens.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE

• This semifinal results will lead to something rarely ever seen in the sport, with only four countries competing in the final– Regan Smith (1) and Katharine Berkoff (3) from the United States, Kaylee McKeown (2) and Iona Anderson (4) from Australia, Kylie Masse (5) and Ingrid Wilm (6) from Canada, and Beryl Gastaldello (7) and Emma Terebo (8) from France. 
• Fifth seed Kylie Masse makes her third Olympic final, joining a group of four other swimmers to have accomplished the same feat.
• Every single one of the top twenty performances is represented in this final, all swam by Smith, McKeown, and Masse. That trio, plus Katharine Berkoff, make up the top four all-time performers in this event. 

MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE

• Thomas Ceccon, the world record holder in this event, becomes Italy’s first ever gold medalist in the men’s 100 backstroke. He joins Nicolo Martinenghi as the second 100-distance winner of this games, setting the Italians up for an exciting 4×100 medley relay. 
• Apostolos Christou, placing fourth, becomes Greece’s highest placing finisher at the Olympics in the 100 backstroke. Their previous highest place came from Christou’s 11th place finish in 2021.
• Ryan Murphy continues a long streak of American medalists in the 100 backstroke. The United States has placed in every Olympics (with the exception of the 1980 boycott) since the Los Angeles games in 1932. Murphy wins the 39th medal for his country.
• Pieter Coetze set the African Record in this event, placing fifth with a time of 52.58, besting his own previous record of 52.78. This fifth-place finish places him the highest in South African history as well.

WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE

• Mona McSharry, after winning the bronze medal, becomes Ireland’s first medalist ever in the event, and first medalist for her country since 1996.
• Tatjana Smith became South Africa’s second gold medalist in the 100 breaststroke, after Penny Heyns in 1996. With this swim, Smith, only 27 years old, becomes the oldest medalist in the history of the event.
• Tang Qianting, in winning silver for China, becomes the nation’s second-ever medalist, alongside Luo Xuejuan in 2004. 
• Benedetta Pilato becomes Italy’s highest placing woman in this event, with her fourth place tie with Lilly King. Eneli Jefimova, placing seventh, becomes Estonia’s best finisher, bettering her own 16th place finish from the Tokyo Olympics. 

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE

• Mollie O’Callaghan claimed Australia’s fourth gold medal in the women’s 200 freestyle, joining the ranks of Shane Gould, Susie O’Neill, and Ariarne Titmus. With Titmus winning a silver medal and the two women adding two medals to their country’s total (bringing it to seven), Australia surpassed East Germany to become the second most decorated country in the women’s 200 freestyle, behind only the United States (who has 11).
• O’Callaghan knocked nearly a quarter of a second off of Titmus’ Olympic record, narrowing it from a 1:53.50 to a 1:53.27. 
• Erika Fairweather claimed her place as the highest finisher in this event for New Zealand, placing seventh in this year’s final.