The USA’s Bobby Finke won the 1,500-meter freestyle final at the Paris Olympics Sunday night, shattering a world record in the endurance race that had stood since 2012.
Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images
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Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images
NANTERRE, France — The U.S.’s Bobby Finke established a razor-thin lead early in the Olympic 1,500-meter freestyle final, an endurance contest that forces swimmers to battle for nearly a mile.
Finke was challenged until the final stretch by Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, but in the final hundred meters he pulled away.
The American won gold by nearly four seconds, with a time of 14:30:67, shattering the world record set by Chinese swimmer Sun Yang at the 2012 Summer Games in London.
Finke is the first member of the American men’s swimming team to win gold in Paris in an individual event. His win and a later victory in the women’s 4×100 meter medley relay brings the tally for U.S. swimmers to eight gold medals in Paris.
Palterinieri took silver, with Daniel Wiffen of Ireland finishing in third to claim bronze.
Three years ago, Finke established himself by winning the 1,500 meter race in Tokyo. According to Olympics.com, he was the first American to win at that distance in the Summer Games since 1984.
Finke also won a silver medal at the Paris Games the 800-meter freestyle.