Olympic Swimming: Popovici, O’Callaghan Claim Gold

 

Teenager David Popovici powered to the Olympic gold in the men’s 200m freestyle, becoming the first swimmer to win gold for Romania.

The 19-year-old Popovici, who burst onto the scene by winning the 100m-200m freestyle double at the 2022 world championships, touched in 1 minute and 44.72secs, edging Great Britain’s Matthew Richards (1:44.74) by a fingertip.

Team USA’s Luke Hobson (1:44.79) took bronze in a frantic finish.

It was Popovici’s first Olympic medal after missing out in Tokyo 2020, where he came fourth. He had to work hard for the win on Monday with Germany’s Lukas Maertens, who claimed the 400m gold medal on Saturday, opening up a lead in the opening 150m of the race.

But Popovici finished strongly, clawing back his rivals to touch first in a thrilling finale.

Australia's Mollie O’Callaghan held off her training partner – world record holder and defending Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus – to win the women’s 200m freestyle.

Mollie O’Callaghan (right) celebrates with Australian compatriot
 Ariarne Titmus after winning the women’s 200m freestyle final [Ashley Landis/AP]

O’Callaghan stopped the clock in an Olympic record 1:53.27, 0.54 seconds ahead of Titmus, with Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey taking bronze.

Only weeks after Titmus swiped her 200m freestyle world record at Olympic trials, O’Callaghan turned the tables on her compatriot with a sizzling final lap.

She also foiled Titmus’s bid to become the first swimmer to successfully defend a 200m freestyle Olympic gold.

Teenager McIntosh bags first Olympic gold

Canada’s Summer McIntosh, 17, blew away the field to win the gold medal in the women’s 400m individual medley (IM), securing her second medal of the Paris Games.

World record holder McIntosh touched the wall in four minutes and 27.71 seconds – a whopping 5.69 seconds ahead of silver medallist Katie Grimes. Emma Weyant, Grimes’s USA teammate, took the bronze medal.

McIntosh’s triumph came two days after she took Olympic silver behind Titmus in the 400m freestyle on Saturday.

Ceccon wins backstroke gold, Smith takes breaststroke title

World record holder Thomas Ceccon of Italy made a thrilling late surge to claim the men’s 100m backstroke gold.

The former world champion touched the wall in exactly 52 seconds, edging China’s silver medallist Xu Jiayu by 0.32 of a second at La Defense Arena. Team USA’s Ryan Murphy took bronze.

Tatjana Smith took South Africa’s first gold of the Paris Olympics and added the 100m breaststroke title to the 200m she won at Tokyo 2021 under her maiden name of Schoenmaker.

China’s world champion Tang Qianting took the silver medal and Ireland’s Mona McSharry shed tears of joy and amazement after an extraordinary three-way battle for bronze.

- Al Jazeera and News Agencies