NANTERRE, France — It was a finish that was both strong and disappointing for former Ohio State swimmer Hunter Armstrong and the U.S. men, but the U.S. team ended swimming at the Paris Olympics on a high note Sunday.
In an outstanding relay, the U.S. women won gold and broke the world record in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay at Paris’ La Défense Arena.
It was the final swimming event of these Games, and the team of Regan Smith (backstroke), Lilly King (breaststroke), Gretchen Walsh (butterfly) and Torri Huske (freestyle) swam a spectacular race, beating the field by nearly four seconds. Their time of 3:49.63 broke the Olympic record set by Australia at the Tokyo Games (3:51.60) and the Americans’ own world record of 3:50.40, set in 2019.
Australia took silver with a time of 3:53.11, while China took bronze with a time of 3:53.23.
Interactive graphic: Want to train like an Olympic champion? Start with this expert advice.
The men’s individual medley – featuring Ryan Murphy (backstroke), Nic Fink (breaststroke), Caeleb Dressel (butterfly) and Hunter Armstrong (freestyle) – finished with a solid time of 3:28.01. China won the gold medal with a time of 3:27.46, while France took bronze with a time of 3:28.38.
This is the first time the U.S. men failed to win gold in the medley relay event at a non-boycotted Olympic Games.
The Americans’ world and Olympic record of 3:26.78 at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics still stands.
Preliminaries for both relays took place on Saturday – there are no semifinals for the relays – and the men’s medley relay qualified in third place, 0.26 seconds behind top qualifiers France and China in second place. The preliminaries lineup consisted of Hunter Armstrong (backstroke), Charlie Swanson (breaststroke), Thomas Heilman (butterfly) and Jack Alexy (freestyle), who combined for a time of 3:31.62.
In the women’s medley relay, the Americans qualified in fourth place and, together with Canada and China, were 1.59 seconds behind top qualifier Australia. Katharine Berkoff (backstroke), Emma Weber (breaststroke), Alex Shackell (butterfly) and Kate Douglass (freestyle) finished the preliminary heats with a time of 3:56.40.
Results of the US team relay at the Olympic Games in Paris
Here’s a look at the performance of the U.S. men’s, women’s and mixed relay teams in Paris:
-
Women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay: Silver
-
Men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay: Gold
-
Men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay: Silver
-
Women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay: Silver
-
Mixed 4×100-meter medley relay: Gold (world record)
-
Men’s 4×100 meter medley relay: silver
-
Women’s 4x100m medley relay: to be announced
Follow Michelle R. Martinelli on X (formerly Twitter) at @MMartinelli4.
▶ Get to the heart of the news quickly with the USA TODAY app.Download award-winning reporting, crossword puzzles, audio storytelling, eNewspapers and more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former Buckeye Hunter Armstrong to win silver at 2024 Paris Olympics
