Team USA won gold in the men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay to give Michael Phelps his 19th gold medal and 23rd Olympic medal overall. France finished with the silver medal and the favorite to win, Australia, finished third.
Olympic swimming results 2016: USA wins gold in men’s 4x100m freestyle relay
Michael Phelps won his 23rd medal and his 19th gold in the relay.
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First-time Olympian Caeleb Dressel put Phelps in strong position just two hundredths of a second behind the French while setting his own personal record time of 48.1 as the Americans’ lead-off man. Then the world’s most famous Olympian took off.
Phelps, who raced second for the Americans as he did in London, won his second consecutive medal in the event off a strong turn that catapulted America into a lead it never relinquished. Phelps raced a 47.12 in his leg to give the Americans more than a full second lead.
Ryan Held then swam a 47.73 and Nathan Adrian finished the race with a split of 46.97, the quickest of all swimmers, to bring it home for the Americans. He was the only sub-47 swimmer in the relay.
Final results:
United States - 3:09.92
France - 3:10.53
Australia - 3:11.37
Russia - 3:11.64
Brazil - 3:13.21
Belgium - 3:13.57
Canada - 3:14.35
Japan - 3:14.48
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