2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 11th – February 18th, 2024
- Doha, Qatar
- LCM (50m)
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- Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap | Day 4 Finals Recap
- Day 5 Prelims Recap | Day 5 Finals Recap
- Day 6 Prelims Recap | Day 6 Finals Recap
A very interesting session of finals ended in Doha for day 7 of the competitions. Against every prediction, Vladislav Bukhov from Ukraine won the 50 free, beating Cameron McEvoy for just 0.01. Sarah Sjostrom putted in a show in the female sprint races, winning the 50 fly and booking lane 4 for tomorrow in the free. Simona Quadarella from Italy won her second title of the meeting in a breathtaking final rush with Isabel Gose (GER). Here are the quotes collected from the mixed zone:
VLADISLAV BUKHOV (UKR)
Gold medallist in the 50 free in a time of 21.44
“I just did my job. I’m happy with the results.
About the situation in Ukraine, (he trains in Kyiv):
It’s hard. It’s really hard for us. We train while Russian rockets fly around swimming pools or other training buildings. So you never know if you’ll be alive or dead. So it’s difficult for all the Ukrainians. To be here and speak Is very important for all Ukrainians, for me, and I want to say that Russia is dangerous, and they’re not supposed to be in the competitions; they should be banned from Paris too. It’s good when you can talk about this and let people know about it.”
CAMERON MCEVOY (AUS)
Silver medallist in the 50 free in a time of 21.45
Mixed emotions, I’d say. It’s probably three-pronged. The first one is, of course, you want to get the gold medal. It’s only 0.02. Even a tie for first would have been really nice. Secondary to that, you always want to post good times. Um, so in that respect, I’m a little disappointed. And thirdly, if I were to tell my 2016 22-year-old self, that I’d be up here 21.4 after going 21.1 21.2 I wouldn’t believe it. I’d be super proud of where I am right now.
We are in the season, and we wanted to be as fast as possible for this competition, but it is halfway through the Olympic preparation. Being all out in that heat and semi, and even though it’s only .1 .2, that extra level of intensity carries a little bit of weight to it. Similar to the gym, if you go hitting 100% max weight, PB, you’re going to carry a little bit of fatigue with that. And so, it’d be a little bit of that. And then generally as well just the world Championship final, very big year in preparation for what’s to come. And so I’d say it was just all of them mixed into one race.”
SARAH SJOSTROM (SWE)
Gold medallist in the 50 butterfly in a time of 24.63 and top seed in the 50 free final
” I felt like I was a pretty good race, like all the way. Of course, there are always details to improve but if I felt good almost all the way until the finish, My freestyle was okay. I felt a little bit better on my preparation coming here on the freestyle, and less good on the fly. So it’s actually surprising that I did so well on the fly, but I think tomorrow I will be able to do some better things.”
About the withdrawal from the 100 free:
“I actually enjoy doing the 50s more, and I don’t want to be greedy. I know I have a lot of options. I could probably still be pretty, pretty competitive in the in the 100 fly, and the 100 free etc. Sounds strange, but it’s like I don’t I don’t have to do that. I’m not curious to see what I can do in the 100 free, which means I don’t have to do it. I’m not curious about what I can do in 100 flies. I want to see what I can do in the 50s.”
DIOGO MATOS RIBEIRO (POR)
Gold medallist in the 100 butterfly in a time of 51.17
“I’m nineteen years old. I don’t have that much to say, but I’m just thankful and grateful. And I’m very happy that I did it in the Olympic event. It’s different for me and for my country. Now, I just have to think about the sessions and get better. Maybe go to the 50 Club and do it in the Olympics. I think I can get a final with that time. And then, in the final, everything can happen.
I trained the touch at the wall even for the 50s. I know I was not in the front on at the 50th or everything. So I’m glad that it happened because I’ve trained at it very, very, very times. And now I have to improve on the other details, like the start.”
SIMONA QUADARELLA (ITA)
Gold medallist in the 800 freestyle in a time of 8:17.44
“It was the most painful race of my life. I was waiting for her (Isabel Gose) to start the final rush. When she started to push, I started to, and it hurt but was also funny. I really wanted this gold and I’m super happy with that.”
Athletes are Athletes not politicians or military. Punishing the athletes for their government’s actions is not right.
How do you feel about rewarding athletes for their government’s actions, then? Or rewarding governments for the actions of their athletes?
I like that Sjostrom looks at it from the perspective of “where and especially HOW can I push the boundaries of what’s possible the most?”.
I think sprinting is incredibly fascinating right now, because it’s all so optimized already that we only see these tiny improvements. Figuring out your own swim, your 50m in a way that pulls the absolute best performance possible from it, is just cool. For someone like Sarah, after all the success she’s had and such a long career, I’m not surprised it takes a more technical, analytical challenge to keep her engaged and motivated. The “greedy” part was probably said in jest. She knows she can keep up with the 100 ladies but there… Read more »
Why isnt the Ukranian on the front line fighting. Ukraine is begging the world for arms and money and their fittest people of fighting age are touring the world. Doesnt make sense.
You don’t make sense. Him fighting and monetary support are two different things. Do you want him to go fight with a kick board? Don’t be so arrogant
Bukhov closed on McEvoy from the heat +0.43, semi +0.15 to -0.01 in the final. Still work to do for McEvoy, with two Olympics behind him and no individual success, there will be challenges beyond his new training program.
He talked of including the 100 moving into this year, even just to lend support to the relay stocks, but this seems less likely now.
Buhkov sounds amazing, glad he is getting attention.
It’s very refreshing to hear a 30-year-old Sjostrom say she doesn’t need to be greedy. What Phelps did was great, but I think it trained a generation to think that number of medals is the only metric of success. Glad she’s forcing her own path.
But since she’s doing 50s, why not try backstroke😉?
“Phelps was greedy” is a brand new take that can only come 8 years after an athlete retires 🤣
Bukhov is amazing.
Imagine training in a country being bombarded by a nasty neighbor bully
Dang, Cam gives some really insightful quotes. I know he is incredibly smart so I’m not surprised. I just really appreciate when an athlete give a peak behind the curtain instead of bland answer like they are honored to represent their country etc.
Bukhov is right, of course.