By Ariwodo praise izuchukwu
In his championship defense in the men’s 50-meter freestyle on Friday, American swimmer Caeleb Dressel was not able to reach the medal podium.
Dressel placed sixth after the sprint race. Cameron McEvoy of Australia took home the event’s first-ever medal for his nation.
Ben Proud of Great Britain won the silver after tying McEvoy for quickest qualifying.
Bronze in the 50-meter freestyle made French swimmer Florent Manaudou the first swimmer to win four medals.
Results
- Cameron McEvoy (Australia) – 21.25 seconds
- Benjamin Proud (Great Britain) – 21.30
- Florent Manaudou (France) – 21.56
- Josh Liendo (Canada) – 21.58
- Kristian Gkolomeev (Greece) – 21.59
- Caeleb Dressel (United States) – 21.61
- Leonardo Deplano (Italy) – 21.62
- Jordan Crooks (Cayman Islands) – 21.64
Dressel’s gold medal defense did not go as planned.
The eight-time Olympic gold medalist got off to a decent start, but he did not keep the speed with the rest of the field.
McEvoy and Proud surged to the front of the race in the middle of the pool and took first and second within five-hundredths of a second of each other.
McEvoy surprisingly became the first Australian man to medal in the 50-meter freestyle, which has been an Olympic event since 1988.
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Proud’s silver medal was also the first for his country, Great Britain, in the event.
Manaudou added a bronze to his long medal haul in the event from the last 12 years. The Frenchman won the gold medal in London and took silver at the last two Olympics.
McEvoy’s win gave Australia yet another gold medal in the pool. The Aussies earned six of their nine golds in Paris in swimming.
Australia’s Cameron McEvoy won his fourth career medal — and first gold — by taking the 50-meter freestyle, edging silver medalist Benjamin Proud of Great Britain.
Defending Olympic champ, American Caeleb Dressel, finished sixth.
The French crowd roared with approval as Florent Manaudou took bronze.
