In fifth position for most of the race, U.S. swimmer Bobby Finke surged toward the finish to claim Olympic gold in the 800-meter freestyle on Thursday.
The thrilling come-from-behind win at the Tokyo Games was the first Olympic medal for Finke in quite a while first Olympic Games.
“I just really wanted to get my hand on the wall,” Finke, 21, said after the race Thursday. “I’m just so happy I was able to switch into another gear.”
Thursday’s race was the Olympic debut for the occasion, which Finke completed in 7:41.87. That time set an American record.
The pioneer for the vast majority of the race, which is around a half-mile in length, was Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri. He came in second and won silver.
Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine won the bronze.
Paltrinieri, the 2016 Olympic hero in the 1500, got out to an enormous early lead, driving Finke by more than two seconds at the 300-meter mark. That hole was down to a little more than a second at the 500, and under a second at the 600, yet then, at that point back at almost 1.5 seconds at the 700 — however it wouldn’t demonstrate enough to hold off Finke.
He was the solitary American in the final. He’s set to get back to the pool in the not so distant future to address the U.S. in the 1500.
It was the second time in as numerous days that a U.S. swimmer won gold in an occasion showing up at the Olympics interestingly.
On Wednesday, Katie Ledecky completed first in quite a women’s 1500-meter free-form race, a race that is an apparatus in world championships yet was accessible to women in the Olympics interestingly at Tokyo.
“It means a lot,” Finke said. “Coming into this, there was a lot of doubt behind American distance. I’m happy to try and get a medal on the board for the team. I’m just really excited.”