2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
- When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
- Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
- Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
- Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
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In a thrilling battle to the wall in yesterday’s men’s 200m IM final, China’s Wang Shun earned the gold, clocking a lifetime best, Asian continental and Chinese national record of 1:55.00. That held off runner-up Duncan Scott of Great Britain and subsequent bronze medalist Jeremy Desplanches of Switzerland who landed on the podium with times of 1:55.28 and 1:56.17, respectively.
Further down the line, however, was an Olympic icon by the name of Laszlo Cseh. 35-year-old Cseh of Hungary stopped the clock in a time of 1:57.68 to finish 7th in the race, one which the 33-time European champion has said was his last.
“My last race; 200 medley 7th place” is what his Instagram post read after the competition concluded on day 6.
Tokyo represented Cseh’s 5th straight Olympic Games, with the dynamic athlete having reached at least one individual final across each one. He is a 6-time Olympic medalist and although he never reached the absolute top of the podium, the man collected 4 silvers and 2 bronze medals.
The heyday of Cseh’s career coincided with that of Americans Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte pitting the Hungarian against the powerful combination in the IM events and Phelps in the butterfly on multiple occasions. At the 2016 Games in Rio, Cseh was among the trio of silver medalists, along with Phelps and South Africa’s Chad Le Clos, who all tied for runners-up in the 100m fly behind winner Joseph Schooling of Singapore.
Reflecting on his 200m IM performance, Cseh told the Hungarian Swimming Association, “When I woke up in the morning, I was a little sensitive because this was still my last swim today. But it felt good, no negative effects, I was completely prepared for the final.
“Actually, the beginning was okay, the breaststroke wasn’t, unfortunately, I haven’t felt that way in a long time, now I tried to do it a little differently because it felt like yesterday’s version didn’t work – well, I didn’t go much further with that either.”
Reflecting on his career, Cseh said, “I had to come here to Tokyo because that was the right end to my career. If I hadn’t committed, I would now be sitting at home in front of the TV and it might have been depressing for a long time or maybe for the rest of my life.
“So I created my peace of mind, I can say it calmly and with a smile: that was it, thank you.
“Thank you to everyone, my family, my wife, my coaches, my clubmates, and my national teammates.
“Obviously I will miss you, but now I think I will step away from the sport for a while and then we will see what the future holds. ”
His time was actually pretty solid. It was 0.01s faster than his time of 1:57.69 in Shanghai 2011.
Congrats Mr Cseh on your amazing career.
You will be remembered as an all time great who was just unlucky to be born in the same generation as MP and Lochte. It’s always sad when one of the swimmers you’ve grown up with is retiring. I was always rooting for MP when you swim against each other while having much respect for you.
First time you became known to the general public was in 2003 at the great world championships of Barcelona when you bothered a little bit MP in the 400 IM. What a race it was!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA-t29CZ-O0
I’m happy you finished your career with an olympic final. Hats off champion.
Man is a legend. Best of luck!
Just imagine… If Schooling hadn’t existed, there would have been a triple gold and Cseh would have become Olympic champion 💔
35 and still almost ran down MA! Glad he ended on his terms and is happy.
Cseh- you have worldwide fans! You’re truly awesome.
It always sad when an athlete retires from competitive sport that took so much of his life for so long.
But the argument of his greatness that I’m reading here is kind of strange:
If there were no guys who beat me than I would win.
If I was beaten by great swimmers it doesn’t make my loss greater. My time that what matters.
And also why didn’t he wear the swimming cap. Wouldn’t it make him faster helping to win competition? What was the reason behind that? Is it : if don’t win anyway then I will at least look different then other competitors. Is it just kind of superstition or tradition that he didn’t… Read more »
I think wearing a cap is slightly more drag than a bald head. Certainly before they started wearing two caps. If nothing else, there is almost always hair hanging out the back. There was an American woman (BJ Bedford) who shaved her head for Olympic trials and swam capless (she said both to psyche herself up and show her confidence). Unfortunately, she got 3rd and didn’t make the team.
I met Laszló at a Hungarian training camp in Florida in 2020. He took time to let me babble in broken Hungarian about how much I appreciated watching him compete over the years. Legend! Köszönünk mindet bajnok és legenda.