2024 Paris Olympics: Day 8 Finals Live Recap

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
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• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6| Day 7

DAY 8 FINALS HEAT SHEET

Welcome to day 8 finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Though the swimming portion of the Olympics is now winding down, tonight’s finals session is set to be one of the most action packed of the meet. Tonight’s lineup includes the final of the men’s 100 fly, women’s 200 IM, women’s 800 free, and mixed 4×100 medley relay, as well as the semifinals of the women’s 50 free.

DAY 8 FINALS SCHEDULE

• Men’s 100 Butterfly – Final
• Women’s 50 Freestyle – Semifinal
• Women’s 200 IM – Final
• Women’s 800 Free – Final
• Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay – Final

Things will kick off with the men’s 100 fly final. Hungarian star Kristof Milak led the field through prelims and semifinals, having gone 50.19 in prelims yesterday morning and 50.38 in semis last night. Milak looked like he was on a mission yesterday in the event after taking silver in the 200 fly, his best event, behind Leon Marchand.

The 24-year-old has his work cut out for him, however, as he has Josh Liendo and Maxime Grousset on either side of him. In fact, this should be one of the best races we’ve seen all week in terms of the heat as a whole. The top seed and 8th seed were separated by just 0.70 seconds in semifinals.

The next final will be the women’s 200 IM, and we should all just hope it lives up to the hype. The heat will feature (in no particular order) Summer McIntosh, Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, and Kaylee McKeown, each of whom have a very real shot at gold and any of whom could end up breaking the Olympic Record tonight. It was Walsh who led semis last night, swimming a 2:07.45. There are enough differences in strengths and weaknesses between them that this should be an exceptional race to watch.

After the IM, it will be the Katie Ledecky show. Ledecky earned the top seed for the women’s 800 free final with her 8:16.62 in prelims yesterday. This is Ledecky’s best event, and she’s chasing her 14th career Olympic medal tonight. If she gets it, she’ll take sole ownership of the title of the most decorated American female Olympic of all-time.

Follow along with SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges as he does a live watch party for tonight’s session:

MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• World Record: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2021)
• World Junior Record: 50.62 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2017)
• Olympic Record: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel, USA
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 50.74

1. Kristof Milak (Hungary) – 49.90
2. Josh Liendo (Canada) – 49.99
3. Ilya Kharun (Canada) – 50.45
4. Noe Ponti (Switzerland) – 50.55
5. Maxime Grousset (France) – 50.75
6. Nyls Korstanje (Netherlands) – 50.83
7. Matthew Temple (Australia) – 51.10
8. Naoki Mizunuma (Japan) – 51.11

Hungary’s Kristof Milak got the job done tonight, getting his hands on the wall 1st in 49.90 after leading this event in both prelims and semifinals as well. Milak was 4th at the 50m turn, but he swam his race perfectly, building on the field through the back half of the race. At the finish, he simply had a better touch than Josh Liendo, and it made the difference in Milak winning gold.

Liendo was 2nd on the 1st 50 of the race, swimming a 23.24. He then had a phenomenal turn, coming out ahead of the field with the clear lead. Liendo was holding that lead and looked like he would win, but as stated above, his finish just wasn’t timed up as well as Milak’s. With the performance, Liendo broke his own Canadian Record, and took the Canadian Record in the event under 50 seconds for the 1st time.

This was an incredible race for Canada, as Ilya Kharun would grab the bronze medal. Kharun was 7th at the 50, but came home 2nd-fastest only to Milak and it was enough.

Early on it looked like Frenchman Maxime Grousset may have the upper hand, but he did not come off the turn well and ended up falling back to 5th by the time the race was over.

WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – SEMIFINALS

• World Record: 23.61 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE (2023)
• World Junior Record: 24.17 – Claire Curzan, USA (2021)
• Olympic Record: 23.81 – Emma McKeon, AUS (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 23.81 – Emma McKeon, AUS
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 24.32

1. Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) – 23.66 (Olympic Record)
2. Gretchen Walsh (United States) – 24.17
3. Katarzyna Wasick (Poland) – 24.23
4. Zhang Yufei (China) – 24.24
5. Shayna Jack (Australia) – 24.29
6. Meg Harris (Australia) – 24.33
7. Qu Qingfeng (China)/Neza Klancar (Slovenia) – 24.40 (TIE)
8. –

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom is just incredible. The 30-year-old just demolished the Olympic Record of 23.81, swimming a 23.66 to post the top time of the semifinals by over half a second. Sjostrom very nearly took down her own World Record of 23.61, but she’ll have another shot at that tomorrow night in the final. She’s the only woman in history to have gone under 23.7 in the event, and with the performance tonight, she’s now done so 6 times in her legendary career.

American Gretchen Walsh had a fantastic start and breakout, but wasn’t able to stay ahead of Sjostrom for long. Still, she clocked the 2nd-fastest time of the evening, posting a 24.17. Walsh was quite a bit quicker than her prelims time of 24.37, so we’ll see if she can shed even more time tomorrow night.

Poland’s Katarzyna Wasick, 32, came in 3rd this evening with a 24.23. That time was a touch faster than the 24.27 she swam in prelims this morning.

Australia saw both their swimmers make it into the final. Shayna Jack (24.29) and Meg Harris (24.33) came in 5th and 6th respectively.

China also put 2 into the final, with Zhang Yufei clocking a 24.24 for 4th and Qu Qingfeng taking 7th in 24.40.

WOMEN’S 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – FINAL

• World Record: 2:06.12 – Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2015)
• World Junior Record: 2:06.89 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2023)
• Olympic Record: 2:06.58 – Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2016)
• 2021 Winning Time: 2:08.52 – Yui Ohashi, JPN
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 2:09.04

1. Summer McIntosh (Canada) – 2:06.56 (Olympic Record, World Junior Record)
2. Kate Douglass (United States) – 2:06.92
3. Kaylee McKeown (Australia) – 2:08.08
4. Yu Yiting (China) – 2:08.49
5. Abbie Wood (Great Britain) – 2:09.51
6. Sydney Pickrem (Canada) – 2:09.74
7. Alex Walsh (United States) – DQ
8. Ella Ramsay (Australia) – Scratch

In a strange turn of events, Australian Ella Ramsay was a late scratch for the women’s 200 IM, which left the final with only 7 swimmers. American Alex Walsh led the race at the 150m turn, and originally had won a medal, but was then DQ’d for an illegal back-to-breast turn. Upon the video replay of the turn, it was clear Walsh had rotated onto her stomach prior to touching the wall on the back-to-breast turn, which is illegal.

Summer McIntosh finished out her individual racing at this meet with bang, storming to victory in 2:06.56. McIntosh was out in 26.80 on fly, then put up a phenomenal 31.80 on backstroke, which put her into the 100m turn in 58.60, which was under World Record pace. She then put up a solid 37.53 on breast, which is her weakest stroke. A 30.43 coming home was enough was enough to get her into the wall first. McIntosh’s performance tonight marks a new Olympic Record, as well as a new World Junior Record.

Kate Douglass earned the silver medal with a 2:06.92. She was nothing short of spectacular on the back half of the race, splitting 35.75 on breaststroke and 30.12 on free, for an astonishing 1:05.87 on the 2nd 100.

With Walsh disqualified, Kaylee McKeown earned her 3rd individual medal of the meet, taking 3rd in 2:08.08.

WOMEN’S 800 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 8:04.79 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2016)
• World Junior Record: 8:11.00 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2014)
• Olympic Record: 8:04.79 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2016)
• 2021 Winning Time: 8:12.57 – Katie Ledecky, USA
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 8:18.35

1. Katie Ledecky (United States) – 8:11.04
2. Ariarne Titmus (Australia) – 8:12.29
3. Paige Madden (United States) – 8:13.00
4. Simona Quadarella (Italy) – 8:14.55
5. Isabel Gose (Germany) – 8:17.82
6. Lani Pallister (Australia) – 8:21.09
7. Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (France) – 8:22.80
8. Erika Fairweather (New Zealand) – 8:23.27

Katie Ledecky mad history tonight in multiple ways. Firstly, she just won her 14th career Olympic medal, which moves her into sole ownership of the title of American female with the most medals. On top of that, she won her 4th-straight Olympic gold in the 800 free, which makes her the first woman in history to 4-peat in an event at the Olympics.

It wasn’t Ledecky’s fastest performance, but her 8:11.04 tonight is still faster than any other woman in history has ever swum the race. Australian Ariarne Titmus was there to push Ledecky from the start. Through much of the race, Titmus didn’t let Ledecky pull away. She kept the pressure on, though by the time we were 600m into the race, it was clear Ledecky would win.

For her part, Titmus’ swim was exceptional. Her silver medal time of 8:12.29 marks a new Oceanic Record, and moves her to #3 all-time in the event, behind Ledecky and Summer McIntosh.

American Paige Madden was on fire in this event. Madden hadn’t been under 8:20 in this event until prelims yesterday morning, when she clocked an 8:18.48. She then doubled down on that performance, taking another 5.48 seconds off her time tonight, and earning the bronze medal with an 8:13.00. Madden is now suddenly the 4th-fastest performer of all-time in the event.

The records didn’t end there. Italian Simona Quadarella broke her own Italian Record in the event, finishing 4th with an 8:14.55. Her previous record of 8:14.99 was set back in 2019.

MIXED 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINAL

• World Record: 3:37.58 – Great Britain (2021)
• Olympic Record: 3:37.58 – Great Britain (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 3:37.58 – Great Britain
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 3:38.95

1. United States (Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske) – 3:37.43
2. China (Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei, Yang Junxuan) – 3:37.55
3. Australia (Kaylee McKeown, Joshua Yong, Matthew Temple, Mollie O’Callaghan) – 3:38.76
4. France (Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Leon Marchand, Marie Wattel, Beryl Gastaldello) – 3:40.96
5. Canada (Kylie Massie, Finlay Knox, Josh Liendo, Maggie MacNeil) – 3:41.41
6. Netherlands (Kira Toussaint, Caspar Corbeau, Nyls Korstanje, Marrit Steenbergen) – 3:43.12
7. Great Britain (Kathleen Dawson, James Wilby, Duncan Scott, Anna Hopkin) – 3:44.31
8. Japan (Riku Matsuyama, Taku Taniguchi, Mizuki Hirai, Rikako Ikee) – 3:45.17

The mixed medley relay final tonight quickly became a race between the US and China. They were almost swimming stroke-for-stroke the entire way through. It started out with the backstroke, where American veteran Ryan Murphy clocked a 52.08, just ahead of China’s Xu Jiayu‘s 52.13. China’s Qin Haiyang would then put up his best 100 breast of the week, throwing down a 57.82 on the 2nd leg. He inched ahead of the Americans with the swim, though Nic Fink had a very strong leg for the US as well.

Fink handed off to Gretchen Walsh for fly, and she was excellent. The World Record holder in the women’s 100 fly, Walsh swam a 55.18, beating out China’s Zhang Yufei (55.64). That put the US into the final exchange 0.04 seconds ahead of China. It came down to the anchor, as all great relays do. Both American Torri Huske and China’s Yang Junxuan had truly phenomenal swims as they both tried to earn the gold medal for their countries. Huske split 51.88, while Yang was 51.96, which was enough for Huske to get her hand on the wall 1st, and earn gold for the US, leaving China with the silver.

Both the US and China were under the previous World Record of 3:37.58, which Great Britain set at the Tokyo Olympics 3 years ago.

Australia ended up earning the bronze medal by a comfortable margin. Kaylee McKeown, not far removed from her bronze medal in the 200 IM, managed a very solid 57.90 leading the team off. Joshua Yong then put up a 58.43 on breast, Matthew Temple clocked a 50.42 on fly, and Mollie O’Callaghan anchored in 52.01.