Caeleb Dressel earned his ninth Olympic gold medal as part of the United States team that won the mixed 4×100 meter medley relay at the Paris Games, setting a new world record. The team completed the race in 3 minutes 37.43 seconds, surpassing the previous record of 3:37.58 set by Britain at the Tokyo 2021 Games.
China secured the silver medal, finishing just 0.12 seconds behind the US, while Australia claimed the bronze. France, with Leon Marchand swimming the second leg, finished fourth. This marked the first time the four-time gold medalist did not win a final at the La Defense Arena.
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The US team consisted of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske, who secured the victory. Regan Smith, Charlie Swanson, Dressel, and Abbey Weitzeil swam in the preliminaries on Friday and were recognized for their contributions, even though they did not appear on the podium.
“It was a pretty special moment,” said Walsh, who set a personal best of 55.18 seconds and took the lead from China. “Shout out to these three teammates. I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Dressel, who has won gold in each of his three Olympic appearances, added two more in Paris to his tally of five from Tokyo and two from Rio de Janeiro. Despite his team’s success, Dressel’s individual performance in Paris was disappointing, as he finished fifth in the 100m butterfly semi-final and left the pool in tears.
Leon Marchand, the Paris Games’ standout, impressed fans with his performances but fell short of a miraculous victory. China’s silver medal time of 3:37.55, achieved by Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei, and Yang Junxuan, also broke the previous world record, while Australia’s time of 3:38.76 set an Oceanian record.
Britain, competing without star swimmer Adam Peaty, finished in seventh place.
