Top Olympic Rivalries: Part III

At last, here we are on Part III of some of the most epic Olympic rivalries we’ve seen in recent memory. If you haven’t read the other parts yet, here’s Part I and Part II. Without further ado, let’s start unpacking these showdowns…

1. Popov v. Hall, Jr.

We’re talking about two of the most decorated sprinters to have ever graced the sport of swimming, dueling it out for over a decade. While Gary Hall Jr. didn’t start swimming competitively until around his teenage years, Alexander Popov had already put the world on notice, sweeping the sprint freestyle events at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Their first head-to-head matchup occurred at the 1994 Worlds, where Popov out-touched Hall in both the 50 and 100 freestyle events en route to two golds, with Hall taking two silvers. This set the table for an exciting pair of rematches at the 1996 Olympics — notably held in the United States, Hall’s home country. The result in Atlanta was the same: Popov defended his double-crown in the sprint freestyles, with Hall a close second in both races.

At the 1998 Worlds, with Hall suspended and later dealing with a diabetes diagnosis, Popov swam his way to a silver medal performance in the 50 and a gold medal performance in the 100. Two years later at the Sydney Olympics, however, it was Hall’s moment to clinch Olympic glory. In a stacked final that saw multiple current and future Olympic champions, he tied with teammate Anthony Ervin to win his first individual Olympic gold, with Popov back in 6th place. The two swimmers also competed in the 100 freestyle, with Popov emerging with silver and Hall with bronze — behind Dutch legend Pieter van den Hoogenband.

This story doesn’t just end here, however. With Hall not competing after Sydney, Popov swept the 50 and 100 freestyle events again at the 2003 Worlds. This was truly a special moment for Popov, as the 2003 Worlds were held in Barcelona — just as the 1992 Olympics had been, where Popov’s dominance all began 11 years prior.

The next year in Athens saw the last chapter in this saga. At the 2004 Olympics, Hall would defend his 50 freestyle Olympic title in emphatic style, with Popov eliminated in the preliminaries in 18th. And thus, Athens drew the curtain on one of the longest and most dominant back-and-forth rivalries in sprinting history.

2. McKeown v. Masse v. Smith

Here’s another three-way rivalry that has fixated backstroke enthusiasts — and quite frankly, all of us — for quite some time now. Even before this rivalry began, Kylie Masse had already been a mainstay on the world stage, earning bronze at the Rio Olympics and winning gold at the 2017 Worlds in the 100 backstroke.

These three titans of the backstroke first met at the 2019 Worlds, where Regan Smith took down the 200 backstroke world record en route to gold, with Kaylee McKeown winning silver and Masse the bronze. At the same competition, Masse defended her world title in the 100 backstroke, with McKeown in 5th — Smith did not contest the event but broke the world record leading off the U.S. women’s 4×100 medley relay.

Two years later, the three met again at the Tokyo Olympics in the 100 backstroke — with all three breaking the existing Olympic Record at least once through the heats and semifinals. When it was all said and done, McKeown emerged victorious, out-touching both Masse and Smith in a performance just off of her own world record. In the 200 backstroke later in the week, McKeown and Masse would finish 1-2 in yet another close race — Smith did not qualify to swim the event.

A year later at the 2022 Worlds, the trio squared off in the three backstroke distances. In the 50 backstroke, it was Masse who edged out a tight field to win gold, with Smith and McKeown off the podium in 5th and 6th, respectively. In the 100 backstroke, Smith emerged victorious, just ahead of Masse, with McKeown scratching to focus on the 200 IM. In the 200 backstroke, in Smith’s absence, McKeown stormed to another world title, with Masse off the podium in 5th.

The three would contest all three races yet again at the 2023 Worlds. McKeown put up a dominant showing, sweeping all three distances en route to triple gold. Smith would collect three silver medals right behind McKeown, with Masse narrowly missing out on the podium in all three races.

The 2024 Olympics was the most recent chapter in this narrative. In similar fashion to the Worlds the year prior, McKeown swept both the 100 and 200 backstrokes, with Smith right behind her in both events and Masse earning a bronze in the 200 backstroke as well. Though recent results have been tipped in McKeown’s favor, something tells me that this rivalry is still unfinished…

3. USA v. France, Men’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay

What better fitting way to tie a ribbon on this series than to dive into perhaps one of the most exciting back-and-forth relay rivalries in recent memory?

For three consecutive Olympiads — spanning almost the course of an entire decade — the American and French relay teams claimed the gold and silver medals (in some order) at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics. At the Worlds, the teams claimed gold and bronze in 2007 and 2009, silver and bronze in 2011, and gold and silver in 2013 — the French team also won gold in 2015, with the U.S. quartet failing to qualify for the final.

In short, the two teams were mainstays on the podium at every international competition. But their showdown at the 2008 Olympics was by far their most historic showdown, and likely one of the most epic relay performances in the history of our sport — and it’s what jumpstarts this epic rivalry.

In the lead-up to Beijing, France assembled a quartet that, on paper, was faster than any quartet the Americans could challenge them with. To add fuel to the fire, the world record holder at the time, Alain Bernard, made waves with his now infamous statement: “The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for.”

Bernard would go on to win Olympic gold in the individual 100 free, but in the 4×100 free relay, he was chased down the final stretch by an otherworldly 46.06 performance from team captain Jason Lezak — with both teams decimating the previous world record by nearly four seconds.

Four years later, the opposite occurred. France’s hero Yannick Agnel chased down Ryan Lochte on the final stretch, avenging their narrow loss from four years ago in Beijing in thrilling fashion and shocking the American team. Needless to say, the Americans had some unfinished business and came into Rio four years later with a vengeance of their own. In yet another classic, the Americans narrowly led from start to finish, regaining the title they had relinquished four years ago in an epic final.

What’s more? The fact that Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian, and Fabien Gilot were a part of all three of these Olympic showdowns (Adrian swam in the heats in 2008). Talk about longevity and continued dominance on the world’s largest stage.