100 meter freestyle was really just an extra distance. An extra distance that won Olympic gold.
But the distance she invested basically all of her money on before the Olympics in Paris was the 50-meter freestyle.
Olympics in Paris 2024
Julien Alfred won the 100 meters with a bang – taking Saint Lucia’s first ever Olympic gold
Samuel Pihlström missed the Olympic semi-final by two hundredths – Swedish protest rejected
Third fastest ever
Now she is ready for the Olympic final there as well.
In the semi-finals she impressed, winning in 23.66 – a new Olympic record by 15 hundredths and the third fastest time of all time over the distance.
Sjöström: “It’s great!”
Sjöström was totally superior. Second fastest was Gretchen Walsh in 24.17, i.e. 51 hundredths after Sjöström.
– It is fantastic! Great fun to break the Olympic record, says Sjöström to SVT Sport.
Coleman knocked out
For Michelle Coleman, however, there was no final advancement. She was fourth in Sjöström’s semi-final in a time of 24.47. With that, she was ninth overall, just seven hundredths from eighth place and the Olympic final.
– I would have rather come in like 16th place instead of ninth, because it is such a difficult position to have because it is so trippingly close, Coleman told SVT Sport.
To Max, she hints that this was her last Olympics.
– My Olympic journey is over, and it sucks. I know that life goes on and that this is not everything, but it would have been a lot of fun to come here and make my absolute best Olympics ever, she says there.
Sjöström holds the world record
Sarah Sjöström has dominated the distance for many years, and has the five fastest times ever. The world record she set in 2023 is 23.61. At the Olympics, however, she “only” has an Olympic silver in the distance from 2021, when she broke her elbow barely six months before the Olympics.
The final will be decided tomorrow evening.
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Sjöström on the Olympic record in the semifinal: “Gives courage before the final” Photo: SVT