Paris Olympics, Day 3 Finals Heat Sheet: Five Finals Incoming With 200 Freestyle Fireworks Expected
The third evening of swimming finals at the Paris Olympics will include finals in the women’s 400 IM, men’s 200 freestyle, men’s 100 backstroke, women’s 100 breaststroke and women’s 200 freestyle, as well as semifinals in the women’s 100 backstroke. The session begins at 8:30 p.m. CEST (2:30 p.m. ET in the United States) at La Défense Arena.
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Summer McIntosh will be favored to win her first Olympic gold medal in the 400 IM after taking silver in the 400 free. The Canadian teenager entered as the top seed in the event by seven seconds. However, McIntosh will have lane three in the evening final after solid efforts by Americans Emma Weyant and Katie Grimes secured them the top-two spots for the final.
David Popovici swims for Olympic gold in the 200 free from lane four. He owns the top time in the world by more than a second at 1:43.13, and no other active swimmer has ever beaten that mark. The other middle lanes include Tokyo silver medalist Duncan Scott, American Luke Hobson and 400 free winner Lukas Martens while the second British swimmer, 2023 world champion Matt Richards, looms from lane one.
Xu Jiayu impressed in the men’s 100 back semifinals, qualifying first by more than a half-second, but he will have to step up in the final with world-record holder Thomas Ceccon one lane over and 2016 gold medalist Ryan Murphy two lanes away. Pieter Coetze and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard are both well-positioned for the final.
In the women’s 100 breast, defending 200 breast gold medalist Tatjana Smith has lane four after recording identical marks of 1:05.00 in prelims and semifinals. Three world champions are in the field, with Tang Qianting in lane six, Lilly King in lane three and Benedetta Pilato in lane one, while Ruta Meilutyte did not qualify for the final.
Finally, Australians Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus are the favorites to sweep the podium in the 200 free, with American Claire Weinstein and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey on either side of the central duo.
