2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
Reported by Mitch Bowmile.
Watch the 2016 Olympic final of the men’s 1500 free:
If you find video links for other countries, please post them in the comments.
MEN’S 1500M FREESTYLE FINAL
Start List: click here
Top Seed: 14:44.51 – Gregorio Paltrinieri – Italy
World Record: 14:31.02 (2012) – Sun Yang – China
JR World Record: 14:51.54 – Mack Horton – Australia
Olympic Record: 14:31.02 (2012) – Sun Yang – China
2012 Olympic Champion: 14:31.02 – Sun Yang – China
Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy met all expectations in tonight’s 1500m freestyle final, becoming Italy’s first Olympic gold medallist in the event in the history of swimming. Paltrinieri was in control for the entire race, toying with the world record pace before falling off towards the end.
His time of 14:34.57 gave him a very comfortable lead.
Second overall was Connor Jaeger of the United States who became the first American to medal in the event since Larsen Jensen took silver in 2004. Jaeger’s time of 14:39.48 broke the American record in the event and makes him the first American under 14:40.
Third behind Jaeger was Gabriele Detti of Italy with an amazing back-half to push right into the race. No Italian had ever medalled in this event previously, and now two will stand on the podium. Detti clocked in at 14:40.86 to beat American Jordan Willimovsky who touched fourth overall.
Two-time Olympic medallist in this event, Ryan Cochrane of Canada, ended up sixth in the final just behind Mack Horton of Australia. Both swimmers were medal hopefuls going in but fell behind the lead pack early on.
- Gregorio Paltrinieri – Italy – 14:34.57
- Connor Jaeger– USA – 14.39.48
- Gabriele Detti – Italy – 14:40.86
- Jordan Wilimovsky – USA – 14:45.03
- Mack Horton – Australia – 14:49.54
- Ryan Cochrane – Canada – 14:49.61
- Damien Joly – France – 14:52.73
- Henrik Christiansen – Norway – 15:02.66
