Paris Olympics, Day 4 Prelims: Sarah Sjostrom Clocks Only Sub-53 in 100 Freestyle Qualifying
At this stage in her Hall-of-Fame career, at her fifth Olympics, Sarah Sjostrom has paired down her program. She only raced 50-meter events at the World Championships last year and again in February, although she came away with gold medals in both one-lap races of butterfly and freestyle, lowering her global standard over 50 meters last summer.
But for her fifth Olympics in Paris, she chose to return to the 100 free, an event where Sjostrom still holds the world record, and that decision could pay off with an Olympic medal. Sjostrom clocked 52.53 for the third-quickest leadoff split on Sweden’s 800 free relay, and she had the best time in the qualifying session of the individual event Tuesday afternoon.
Sjostrom raced in heat two next to the swimmer who broke the Swede’s long-standing world record in the 100 butterfly last month. Walsh took the early lead in the heat and extended the margin to almost a bodylength off the turn, but she struggled down the stretch as Sjostrom and China’s Wang Junxuan, the fourth-place finisher in the 200 free Sunday evening, overtook her. Sjostrom got the win in 52.99, just ahead of Yang’s 53.05, while Walsh finished all the way back in 53.54.
- World Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden – 51.71 (2017)
- Olympic Record: Emma McKeon, Australia – 51.96 (2021)
- Tokyo Olympic Champion: Emma McKeon, Australia – 51.96
Yang’s time ended up as the No. 3 overall performance, so the duo will again race in lanes four and five, respectively, in the second semifinal heat. Finishing in between the duo in qualifying was Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey, the only other swimmer to previously medal in this event at the Games, having taken silver in Tokyo. Haughey, who won bronze in the 200 free Monday and history’s No. 3 all-time performer in this event, was exactly one second off her best as she won the final heat in 53.02.
The Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen jumped from seventh in her heat at the halfway point to second behind Haughey at the finish, qualifying her fourth for the semis in 53.22. Just behind was Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan, fresh off her victory in the 200 free final Tuesday, who blasted the second length to put forth a time of 53.27. O’Callaghan won world titles in the 100 free in 2022 and 2023.
The other Australian in the race, Shayna Jack, took sixth in 53.40, followed by Torri Huske, the American who took gold in the 100 fly in a come-from-behind victory over Walsh two days earlier. Huske’s time was 53.54, putting her one spot in front of Walsh here.
Beryl Gastadello and Marie Wattel thrilled the French crowd as they both moved on, with Gastadello taking ninth (53.65) and Wattel 12th (53.70). In between were Great Britain’s Anna Hopkin and the Phillipines’ Kayla Sanchez with a 10th-place tie at 53.67.
Four swimmers moved onto the semifinals without breaking 53, with Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil the last swimmer in at 54.16.
Notably, three previous Olympic champions are racing in Paris, but none qualified for in the individual event: 2016 co-winners Simone Manuel (USA) and Penny Oleksiak (Canada) and 2021 winner Emma McKeon (Australia)
