Paris Olympics, Day 1 Finals: Caeleb Dressel Anchors American Men to Third Consecutive 400 Freestyle Relay Gold
The United States Saturday reached the gold-medal podium for the first time in any sport at the Paris Olympics, winning the men’s 400 freestyle relay to conclude Night 1 action at La Défense Arena with one of the sport’s most prominent competitors returning to the grandest stage.
Facing serious threats from the likes of Australia, China, Great Britain and Italy, the Americans turned this one into a runaway by the time Caeleb Dressel entered the pool to handle the final leg.
The Americans’ final time was 3:09.28, more than a second clear of the second-place Australians, while Italy scored bronze. The win marked the third consecutive Olympics in which a U.S. team has touched first. TheStars and Stripes had won the event on the first seven occasions it was contested at the Olympics before falling to lower steps on the podium in three out of four Olympics from 2000 through 2012.
The leadoff leg matched Jack Alexy against Chinese world-record holder Pan Zhanle, and even though he was three-quarters of a second behind after the leadoff, he did enough to have the Americans in second place. That would be the last time his team trailed.
On the second leg, Chris Guiliano split 47.33 to build a half-second lead on Italy. Hunter Armstrong was the unexpected star, with the backstroke specialist blasting a team-best 46.75. Dressel dove into the pool with a lead of almost two seconds. A 47.53 split would be plenty to drive the Americans to the top step of the podium.
“I definitely didn’t expect it. I just went in. I would give my entire body and soul up for these boys, “Armstrong said. “I knew I had to give Caeleb everything I had, and so I was glad I was able to get my job done.”
Silver went to Australia, largely thanks to Kyle Chalmers providing the fastest split of the night with his 46.59 anchor leg. Jack Cartwright, Flynn Southam and Kai Taylor had put the team into fourth place before Chalmers went to work. Entering two seconds off the Americans’ pace, Chalmers never had a chance of catching Dressel, but the Aussies were plenty thrilled to reach the podium.
Following a silver medal from Elijah Winnington in the men’s 400 free plus golds from Ariarne Titmus (women’s 400 free) and the Aussie women’s 400 free relay team, Australia leads the medal tally at the end of night one with four.
Italy won bronze in 3:10.70. In seventh place after Alessandro Miressi’s leadoff leg, Thomas Ceccon moved the team up to second by clocking 47.44 on the second leg. Paolo Conte Bonin went third before Manuel Frigo closed in 47.06 to secure the medal.
Pan recorded a 46.92 split on the leadoff leg, lowering the Olympic record China ended up a half-second back of the medal podium in 3:11.28, with Ji Xinjie, Chen Juner and Wang Haoyu unable to keep pace with the field. Great Britain, with Matt Richards leading off in 47.83 and Duncan Scott anchoring in 47.52, placed fifth in 3:11.61.
Among the American team, Alexy and Guiliano both won Olympic medals for the first time in their careers. Armstrong’s honor was his second, after winning gold as a prelims swimmer on the 400 medley relay in 2021. For Dressel, however, this is eight medals, all of them gold, and his first since taking an extended hiatus from the sport aimed at addressing his mental health.
From the middle of 2022 when Dressel departed early from the Budapest World Championships until early 2023, Dressel completely avoided the pool. He remained in Gainesville, Fla., living on his farm with wife Meghan Dressel, but he only returned to training with the Gators and coach Anthony Nesty when he felt fully ready and eager to do so. The initial returns in his comeback were nothing special, with Dressel swimming in the C final of the 100 free at U.S. Nationals just months into his comeback.
Meghan was watching in Indianapolis that night as her husband raced in that highly unusual spot. Exactly 13 months later, she was again looking on in Paris, accompanied by infant son August, as Dressel, now 27, returned to the podium he first conquered as a 19-year-old in Rio.
“It’s really special, making the team in front of them and then winning the gold in front of them,” Dressel said. “It’s just checking little boxes that I never would have thought to create throughout my career, so that was a really, really special one tonight.”
During the Americans’ previous two Olympic gold medal-winning performances, Dressel had handled the leadoff leg, and the Americans were victorious at all three World Championships in which Dressel started off the race. But with Dressel missing last year’s global meet, a squad that included three rookies fell to bronze.
In 2024, those rookies have blossomed, with Alexy and Guiliano both returning from that medal-winning group and stepping into starring roles. Neither Alexy nor Guiliano matched their respective best times from last month’s U.S. Olympic Trials (Alexy 47.08, Guiliano 47.25), but the depth of American men’s sprinting plus allowed the men to win gold by a relatively comfortable margin with only one swimmer (Armstrong) out-performing pre-meet expectations.
As the swimmers received their gold medals, Armstrong became emotional with the weight of his accomplishment. Dressel immediately recognized the feeling, having shed tears when he won his first Olympic gold eight years earlier. That night in Rio de Janeiro, multi-time Olympians Michael Phelps and Nathan Adrian provided encouragement and support. Now, at a meet where Dressel is eagerly filling the role of veteran sprinter that Adrian held for the U.S. team for so long, he instantly flashed back.
“You can’t help it,” Dressel said. “You can’t explain this moment until you’re up on the podium watching the flag go up. Hunter actually happened before the flag went up. It’s really special seeing that. I remember how it was for me, my first gold, I mean, I lost it. I made it off the podium. But it’s special seeing that and being a part of that with these guys. An extremely special moment, and no one can take that away from us.”
