Paris 2024, North America Day 5: Ilya Kharun Is First Canadian Man To Medal Since 2012

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Swimming Schedule
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Pick ’em Contest
• How To Watch
• Entry Lists
• Live Results
• 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

Although most of the attention in the men’s 200 fly final was on France’s Leon Marchand and Hungary’s Kristof Milak, the race was an important one for Canada’s Ilya Kharun as well. The 19-year-old won bronze in a time of 1:52.80, becoming the seventh-fastest performer of all-time in the event. In addition, it made him the first Canadian man to medal in swimming at the Olympics since Ryan Cochrane and Richard Weinberger in 2012.

This accomplishment is significant for Canada, a nation where men’s swimming has lagged behind of women’s swimming in terms of success in recent years. It’s also significant because Kharun was once slated to represent the United States, even qualifying to do so for the 2022 Junior Pan Pacs. However, before the meet, it was revealed that he was actually born in Canada and would represent them internationally instead.

Since then, Kharun has been on a tear internationally, representing the nation at the 2022 Short Course World Championships and 2023 Long Course World Championships before qualifying for his first Olympic Games. And now, he has his first Olympic medal.

Kharun’s success also juxtaposes what is happening in the United States in the men’s 200 fly. They have a young prodigy of their own — 17-year-old Thomas Heilman, who last year tied Kharun for fourth at the World Championships. However, both Heilman and Luca Urlando missed the 200 fly final this year, making it only the second time in Olympic history where no American men finaled in this race (with the first time being 1980, where the United States did not compete in the Olympics at all).

In an event that was once dominated by Americans like Michael Phelps, Tom Malchow, and Mel Stewart, one of the top performers in the world is a Canadian man who everyone thought was an American for the majority of his life.

The Canadian men will have more opportunities for medals later on in the meet. Josh Liendo still has the 50 free and 100 fly left to compete, and he’s the No. 1 ranked swimmer in the world for the latter event. In addition, Kharun will also race the 100 fly. On the other hand, with swimmers like Heilman, the future is still very bright for America in the 200 fly.

Other Highlights:

• We talk about her more in other articles, but the United States’ Katie Ledecky dominated the 1500 free, winning in Olympic record fashion. She now has the top 20 times in the history of the 1500 free, and ties Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson as the winningest American woman in Olympic history.
• Torri Huske hit a massive personal best of 52.29 in the women’s 100 free to take silver and become the second-fastest American woman of all-time in the event. Her teammate Gretchen Walsh eighth.
• Canada’s Summer McIntosh, as well as the United States’ Regan Smith and Alex Shackell all qualified for the final of the women’s 200 fly. So did the United States’ Kate Douglass and Lilly King in the women’s 200 breast.
• In the men’s 200 back, the United States’ Keaton Jones qualified for the final, but his teammate Ryan Murphy missed. Murphy, who has been a staple of consistency in the event, had made the podium in this race every single year since 2016 up until now.
• The United States’ Josh Matheny finished seventh in the men’s 200 breast final. In the 100 free, his teammates Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano finished seventh and eighth respectivley.

North American Medal Table: