2024 Paris Olympics: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
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• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

DAY 5 FINALS HEAT SHEET

Tonight’s finals session will mark one of the busiest we’ve seen so far. There will be 5 finals and 3 semifinals, for a total projected session length of about 2.5 hours.

DAY 5 FINALS SCHEDULE

• Women’s 100 Freestyle – Final
• Men’s 200 Butterfly – Final
• Women’s 200 Butterfly – Semifinals
• Women’s 1500 Freestyle – Final
• Men’s 200 Backstroke – Semifinals
• Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Semifinals
• Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Final
• Men’s 100 Freestyle – Final

One of the biggest storylines today will be home favorite, and, if we’re being honest, one of the favorites of the swimming community as a whole, Leon Marchand. The 22-year-old Frenchman is facing a pair of finals tonight. First, he’ll be racing in the men’s 200 fly final, which is the 2nd event of the night. Marchand clocked a very strong 1:53.50 in the semifinals last night, which was good for the 2nd-fastest time overall. He’ll have his work cut out for him tonight, however, as World Record holder Kristof Milak of Hungary was in great shape last night in the semis, where he posted a 1:52.72. One thing is for sure: that race is sure to be one of the most exciting of the night.

Marchand will then get a nice-sized break, and will return to the pool for the men’s 200 breast, which is the penultimate event of the session. There, Marchand faces just as difficult a battle. This time, it’s Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook who Marchand needs to watch out for. ZSC is the reigning Olympic champion in the event and the Olympic Record holder, having won in Tokyo with a time of 2:06.38. The Aussie closes his 200 breast with shocking speed, so that will surely be a thriller as well. If Marchand were able to pull off the double win tonight, it would be a historic achievement, as he will have to dethrone the defending Olympic champs in both events to do so.

This session will also feature American Katie Ledecky in the women’s 1500 free final. Ledecky posted an unusually slow 15:47 in prelims yesterday morning, however, it’s no cause for concern whatsoever, as she was still the fastest swimmer in the field by 4 seconds. Ledecky holds the 19-fastest performances in history in the event, and she’ll be looking to make it 20 tonight as she races for her 8th Olympic gold medal of her career.

The women’s 100 free final is shaping up to be an awesome race. Coming in, it felt like Australian Mollie O’Callaghan was the no doubt favorite, however, she hasn’t been quite as fast as we expected through the semfinals. Now, it’s possible that was by design, and O’Callaghan was doing just enough to get a good lane for the semis and now the finals, but still, it’s cause for pause. Fellow Aussie Shayna Jack is right there, having gone 52.72 for the 2nd-fastest time in semis last night. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey has looked strong all meet long and she led the field in prelims and semis in this event. There’s also World Record holder Sarah Sjostrom in the mix, and I’ll remind everyone as always, Sjostrom is both the World Record holder in the 100 free and 50 free, and she’s still the fastest woman in the world in the 50 free, so she can’t be overlooked. 100 fly champion Torri Huske (USA) will be on the outside as well. This could very well be the tightest race we see tonight, and a surprise wouldn’t really be all that surprising.

Meanwhile, the men’s 100 free is in a similar boat. After a rough prelims swim yesterday morning, China’s Pan Zhanle, the World Record holder in the event (46.80), clocked the top time of the semis with a 47.21. Former World Record holder David Popovici will be in the field as well, having gone 47.66 in semifinals. Popo won the 200 free a few days ago, so he has some momentum coming into this race. There’s also Aussie veteran Kyle Chalmers to watch out for, as well as American Jack Alexy.

Watch along with SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges!

WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 51.71 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE (2017)
• World Junior Record: 52.70 – Penny Oleksiak, CAN (2016)
• Olympic Record: 51.96 – Emma McKeon, AUS (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 51.96 – Emma McKeon, AUS
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 52.52

1. Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) – 52.16
2. Torri Huske (United States) – 52.29
3. Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong) – 52.33
4. Mollie O’Callaghan (Australia) – 52.34
5. Shayna Jack (Australia) – 52.72
6. Yang Junxuan (China) – 52.82
7. Marrit Steenbergen (Netherlands) – 52.83
8. Gretchen Walsh (United States) – 53.04.

Swedish 30-year-old Sarah Sjostrom set the World Record of 51.71 in the 100 free back in 2017, but hadn’t won Olympic gold in the event…until tonight. In fact, Sjostrom had only previous won bronze in the event back in 2016, which is the Olympics where Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak tied for gold. Sjostrom clocked a 52.16 tonight. Though she had the most pure speed in the race, she swam a balanced race, clocking a 25.26 on the opening 50m, which was 4th in the field. She then managed a 26.90 coming home, which is what propelled her into the lead.

As I said in the preview, a surprise wouldn’t be all that surprising, and we got several in this race. Most notably, the Aussie duo of Mollie O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack, finished off the podium, coming in 4th and 5th respectively. O’Callaghan tried to work the back half as she usually does, however, her 26.83 coming home was only 0.07 seconds faster than Sjostrom. Jack, on the other hand, was out in 25.29, but didn’t have as much coming home, splitting 27.43 on the 2nd 50.

Meanwhile, where the Aussies fell short in this event, the Americans had a very pleasant surprise, seeing Torri Huske grab the silver medal. Huske was out fast, splitting 25.06 on the opening 50m, which was the fastest in the field. While she has at times paid for her aggressive racing style on the back half, that was not the case tonight. She came home in 27.23, which wasn’t quite enough for her to hold off Sjostrom, but was enough to hold off the rest of the field. The medal marks Huske’s 2nd individual medal of the meet, as she already won the 100 fly.

Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey continues to roll, grabbing her 2nd bronze of the meet. That marks Haughey’s 4th Olympic medal of her career, as she won silver in the 100 free and 200 free in Tokyo. Haughey accounts for all of Hong Kong’s swimming medals in history.

MEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• World Record: 1:50.34 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2022)
• World Junior Record: 1:53.79 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2017)
• Olympic Record: 1:51.25 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 1:51.25 – Kristof Milak, HUN
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 1:54.45

1. Leon Marchand (France) – 1:51.21 (Olympic Record)
2. Kristof Milak (Hungary) – 1:51.75
3. Ilya Kharun (Canada) – 1:52.80
4. Krzysztof Chmielewski (Poland) – 1:53.90
5. Noe Ponti (Switzerland) – 1:54.14
6. Martin Espernberger (Austria) – 1:54.17
7. Kregor Zirk (Estonia) – 1:54.55
8. Alberto Razzetti (Italy) – 1:54.85

France’s Leon Marchand did it again. The 22-year-old superstar won the men’s 200 fly tonight in an awesome race with World Record holder Kristof Milak. In the first race of his 200 fly/200 breast double tonight, Marchand let Milak get out ahead of him on the front half of the race. It must’ve been by design by Marchand, as his came home shockingly fast for a 200 fly. Marchand split 28.97 on the final 50 of the race, which, for context, was more than a second faster than Milak’s 30.23.

With the performance of 1:51.21, Marchand also clipped Milak’s Olympic Record of 1:51.25, which he set back in Tokyo. Marchand’s swim marks a new French Record as well, and he now sits within a second of Milak’s World Record of 1:50.34.

For Milak, it was a very solid performance. He was only 0.5 seconds off his winning time from Tokyo. As always, he was out fast, splitting 52.86 on the opening 100m. He then managed a 28.66 on the 3rd 50 before the race caught up to him, and he came home in 30.27.

Canadian Ilya Kharun had a fantastic performance for bronze, swimming a 1:52.80. That performance marks a Canadian Record, and makes Kharun the 7th-fastest performer of all-time in the event.

Notably, this race was much faster than it was in Tokyo 3 years ago. In Tokyo, it took a 1:54.45 to earn the bronze medal. That time would have been good for 7th here in Paris. Poland’s Krzysztof Chmielewski (1:53.90), Switzerland’s Noe Ponti (1:54.14), and Austria’s Martin Espernberger (1:54.17) were all faster than the bronze time from Tokyo as well. It’s worth mentioning that no one in this final was out of the race.

WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – SEMIFINALS

• World Record: 2:01.81 – Liu Zige, CHN (2009)
• World Junior Record: 2:04.06 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2023)
• Olympic Record: 2:03.86 – Zhang Yufei, CHN (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 2:03.86 – Zhang Yufei, CHN
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 2:09.07

1. Summer McIntosh (Canada) – 2:04.87
2. Regan Smith (United States) – 2:05.39
3. Zhang Yufei (China) – 2:06.09
4. Elizabeth Dekkers (Australia) – 2:06.17
5. Alex Shackell (United States) – 2:06.46
6. Helena Bach (Denmark) – 2:06.65
7. Abbey lee Connor (Australia) – 2:07.10
8. Laura Stephens (Great Britain) – 2:07.53

After looking incredibly relaxed this morning in the heats, Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh showed why she’s the favorite heading into this final tomorrow night. McIntosh looked sharp as she put up a 2:04.87 tonight, which was the only time in the field under 2:05. She was out pretty fast, splitting 59.32 on the opening 100m, but still managed to come home well, splitting 1:05.55 on the back half. We know McIntosh has more in the tank for the final tomorrow night, as she took her 400 IM out in 58.50 on the fly back on Monday night, which is almost a second faster than she took the 200 fly out tonight.

Regan Smith also looked great in the semifinals tonight, swimming a 2:05.39, which was the 2nd-fastest in the field by a good margin. Smith was out in 59.75, just a little slower than McIntosh, though she did manage to out-split the Canadian on the 3rd 50.

Defending Olympic champion Zhang Yufei swam a 2:06.09 tonight, taking 3rd overall and winning the 2nd heat of semifinals. As always, Zhang was out fast, splitting 59.12 on the opening 100m. The question for tomorrow night will be whether she can build a big enough lead on McIntosh and Smith.

American 17-year-old Alex Shackell had a great swim tonight, taking 5th overall with a 2:06.46.

WOMEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 15:20.48 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2018)
• World Junior Record: 15:28.36 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2014)
• Olympic Record: 15:35.35 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 15:37.34
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 15:42.91

1. Katie Ledecky (United States) – 15:30.02 (Olympic Record)
2. Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (France) – 15:40.35
3. Isabel Gose (Germany) – 15:41.16
4. Simona Quadarella (Italy) – 15:44.05
5. Li Bingjie (China) – 16:01.03
6. Moesha Johnson (Australia) – 16:02.70
7. Beatriz Dizotti (Brazil) – 16:02.86
8. Leonie Martens (Germany) – 16:12.57

She’s done it again. 27-year-old Katie Ledecky put together a masterful performance in the women’s 1500 free, winning the race by a little over 10 seconds and smashing her own Olympic Record of 15:35.35, which she set back in Tokyo. On the top line, Ledecky’s performance of 15:30.02 tonight stands as her 8th-fastest of her career, which, of course, also makes it the 8th-fastest performance of all-time. Additionally, with that swim, Ledecky now holds the 20 fastest times in history in the event.

Moreover, Ledecky has now made history, winning her 12th Olympic medal, and her 8th gold. With this new medal, Ledecky is now tied for the most decorated American women’s Olympian all-time. She’ll has two more races left in Paris, so she’ll have a chance to take sole control of that title in the next few days.

As for the race itself, it was phenomenal. She was out in 5:06.71 on the first 500m, then split 5:12.98 on the middle 500m, and came home in 5:09.33 on the final 500m. Ledecky noted in her post-race interview that she let her mind wander in the middle of the race, and was thinking of all the people who have helped her get to this point in her career, saying their names in her head.

Not to be overlooked France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova had an incredible race for for silver. Kirpichnikova, Simonja Quadarella, and Isabel Gose were bunched up in a race for silver pretty much immediately. Kirpichnikova began to inch away from the other pair and pull firmly into 2nd in the middle of the race. She closed extremely well, finishing with a final time of 15:40.35, which is a new French Record. She’s also now the 6th-fastest swimmer in the event all-time.

Germany’s Isabel Gose raced tough at the end too, hitting the wall in 15:41.16. That performance stands as a German Record in the event.

Quadarella, a 2-time World Champion in the event, was hanging in with Kirpichnikova and Gose through most of the race, but fell off at the end, finishing 4th in 15:44.05.

MEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – SEMIFINALS

• World Record: 1:51.92 – Aaron Peirsol, USA (2009)
• World Junior Record: 1:55.14 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2017)
• Olympic Record: 1:53.27 – Evgeny Rylov, ROC (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 1:53.27 – Evgeny Rylov, ROC
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 1:56.69

1. Hubert Kos (Hungary) – 1:55.96
2. Roman Mityukov (Switzerland) – 1:56.05
3. Pieter Coetze (South Africa) – 1:56.09
4. Lukas Martens (Germany) – 1:56.33
5. Apostolos Christou (Greece) – 1:56.33
6. Keaton Jones (United States) – 1:56.39
7. Mewen Tomac (France) – 1:56.43
8. Hugo Gonzalez (Spain) – 1:56.52

The first heat of the men’s 200 backstroke semifinals saw Hungarian Hubert Kos speed to victory with a 1:55.96. This morning, Kos negative split the race. He took a very different approach tonight, getting out to an 55.88 on the opening 100m, then came home in 1:00.08. It will be interesting to see if he shut it down a bit on the back half tonight, or if perhaps he’ll be better served finding a balance between his races strategies from prelims and semifinals today.

Germany’s Lukas Martens continues to race very well, having clocked a 1:56.33 tonight to take 2nd in the 1st heat if semis and 4th overall. He was out in 56.55, a bit slower than Kos, but came home faster, splitting 59.78 on the back half.

Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez was in that first heat as well, swimming a 1:56.52 for 3rd. Gonzalez holds the Spanish Record in the event with a the 1:54.51 he swam last month, so he could make some noise in the final tomorrow night. Gonzalez made it into 8th tonight, advancing to tomorrow night’s final.

The 2nd heat saw Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov clock a 1:56.05 to get his hand on the wall first. He was very good on the back half tonight, splitting 59.31 on the 2nd 100.

South Africa’s Pieter Coetze clocked a 1:56.09 for 2nd in the 2nd semifinal and 3rd overall tonight.

American Keaton Jones swam a 1:56.39, making it in as well.

Italy’s Thomas Ceccon came in 4th in the 1st heat of semifinals with a 1:56.59. The 100 back champion and World Record holder would finish 9th overall tonight, narrowly missing out on the final.

Also marking a big miss was American Ryan Murphy, who came in 10th tonight with a 1:56.62. Murphy looked strong in the 2nd heat, but didn’t close as fast as the rest of the heat by a slim margin, and it was just enough to bump him out.

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – SEMIFINALS

• World Record: 2:17.55 – Evgeniia Chikunova, RUS (2023)
• World Junior Record: 2:19.64 – Viktoriya Gunes, TUR (2015)
• Olympic Record: 2:18.95 – Tatjana Smith, RSA (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 2:18.95 – Tatjana Smith, RSA
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 2:23.73

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 2:05.48 – Qin Haiyang, CHN (2023)
• World Junior Record: 2:07.94 – Dong Zhihao, CHN (2024)
• Olympic Record: 2:06.38 – Zac Stubblety-Cook, AUS (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 2:06.38 – Zac Stubblety-Cook, AUS
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 2:07.13

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 46.80 – Pan Zhanle, CHN (2024)
• World Junior Record: 46.86 – David Popovici, ROU (2022)
• Olympic Record: 46.92 – Pan Zhanle, CHN (2024)
• 2021 Winning Time: 47.02 – Caeleb Dressel, USA
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 47.44