Australia’s Mack Horton came away just 13 hundreds of a second ahead of the favorite to win (China’s Sun Yang) in the 400-meter freestyle to give his country its first gold medal in Rio.
Olympic swimming results 2016: Mack Horton wins gold in men’s 400m freestyle
Australia took home its first gold medal of the Rio games.
Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images
The 20-year-old didn’t take the lead until the 350-meter mark and went neck-and-neck with Yang, the defending champion from the 2012 Olympics in London, until the final touch to win his first medal. Italy’s Gabriele Detti placed third to take home bronze.
The Americans -- Conor Dwyer and Connor Jaeger -- placed fourth and fifth respectively. Dwyer, who finished fifth in the event in London, came out of the qualifiers with the best time of all competitors Saturday afternoon, but was overtaken in the final stretch. His qualifying time would have landed him a silver medal.
Final results:
Mack Horton, Australia: 3:41.55
Sun Yang, China: 3:41.68
Gabriele Detti, Italy: 3:43.49
Conor Dwyer, United States: 3:44.01
Connor Jaeger, United States: 3:44.16
James Guy, Great Britain: 3:44.68
David McKeon, Australia: 3:45.28
Jordan Pothain, France: 3:49.07
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