Paris Olympics, Day 8 Finals: Kristof Milak Fights Back To Take 100 Fly In 49.90; Josh Liendo Breaks 50 Seconds
When Leon Marchand came past Kristof Milak to accelerate into the wall and take the 200 fly title, it condemned the Hungarian to his first defeat over four lengths in a major international long-course meet.
Milak’s butterfly is a work of art and his is a truly extraordinary talent, his WR at the 2019 World Championships a pioneering moment in the sport and one that he subsequently eclipsed.
However, the Olympic crown is no longer his and the image of Marchand moving past him and on to the second of his four Paris golds is an enduring one.
Milak returned on Friday to thunder to 50.19 in the 100 fly prelims, the fourth-fastest of his career, before booking lane four for the final in 50.38 ahead of Frenchman Maxime Grousset (50.41) and Josh Liendo (50.42).
There was to be a new champion in the event with Caeleb Dressel, who set the 49.45 WR en-route to gold in Tokyo, 13th in prelims. Milak went second all-time that day with a European record of 49.68.
Since then both men have spent time away from the pool to focus on their mental health. Milak withdrew from the 2023 worlds and ended up taking an extended break with an emphasis on dryland work.
- World Record: Caeleb Dressel, USA – 49.45 (2021)
- Olympic Record: Caeleb Dressel, USA – 49.45 (2021)
- Tokyo Olympic Champion: Caeleb Dressel, USA – 49.45
- Meet Results
- 2024 Paris Olympics Meet Page
On Saturday, it was Nyls Korstanje of the Netherlands who led at halfway in 23.23 ahead of Josh Liendo (23.24), Maxime Grousset (23.26) with Milak fourth in 23.40.
Kristof Milak: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
Liendo went ahead with Milak making his way through the field and drawing alongside the Canadian before spotting his finish perfectly to claim victory in 49.90.
Milak posted the fastest second 50 of 26.50 as he roared to the second-swiftest time of his career.
Liendo – who came back in 26.75 – was second in 49.99 as he became the fifth man to break the 50-second barrier after Dressel (49.45), Milak (49.68), Michael Phelps (49.82) and Milorad Cavic (49.95).
With that the 21-year-old became the first black Canadian swimmer to win an Olympic medal.
Ilya Kharun came from seventh at halfway to move through the field in 26.72 to make it two Canadians on the podium in 50.45 as the 19-year-old replicated his 200 fly bronze.
Tokyo bronze medallist Noè Ponti was locked out of the medals by 0.10 in 50.55 followed by Grousset (50.75), Korstanje (50.83), Australian Matt Temple (51.10) and Japan’s Naoki Mizunuma (51.11).
Ever the enigma, Milak didn’t speak to reporters.
Liendo came through after he split 50.08 on the fly leg as Canada finished fifth in the mixed medley relay.
Recalling the individual, he said: “So I knew I was up there at the 50 so I was like holy hell, I’ve got to go. At that point I wanted to make sure I timed the touch but obviously I was a little close at the end and that’s what brought me down.”
The 21-year-old was the first black Canadian swimmer to win a gold medal and a medal in an individual event for Canada at the 2021 World Short-Course Championships.
Since then he’s added world long-course and Commonwealth medals to his burgeoning collection and described being the first black Canadian to make the Olympic podium as “a huge milestone,” adding: “I have a lot of pride to be able get that. It’s just a surreal moment – in this stadium with the crowd, just kind of everything coming together. It’s hard to put into words.”
Kharun became the first Canadian man to win a medal in the pool since London 2012 when he won bronze in the 200 fly, 12 years after Ryan Cochrane took 1500 free silver and Brent Hayden 100 free bronze.
Canadian women have enjoyed great success in recent years and at Paris 2024, Summer McIntosh has so far won three golds and a silver.
Liendo described there being two men on the podium as a “huge momentum shift on the men’s side. It’s just exciting. I think we definitely made a big statement there.”
The pair are room-mates and had spoken about the prospect of them becoming the first Canadian men to share the rostrum.
Kristof Milak & Josh Liendo: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
“Me and Josh a couple of days ago spoke about how crazy it would be if me and him both got on the podium and I’m so glad it’s come into existence, it’s such a great feeling,” said Kharun. “I was like what if we both get on this podium? It’d be crazy because it’s never been done before.”
He was surprised at Milak’s speed given the Hungarian had spent so much time away from the water, saying: “He was really nice, very supportive and said ‘good job’ to me. He’s really, really good at what he does even though he had his big break. I thought it was very surprising how we performed because of his big break but I think he’s always been very strong with his world junior records. Yeah, just really fast.”
While the absence of a swimmer like Dressel was notable, the Arizona Sun Devils swimmer pointed to the strength of the field.
“Dressel is really, really strong, he’s crazy with that world record but with him gone..to be honest, I didn’t really think about it because there are some more strong opponents like Grousset is really strong, he won worlds last year. And of course Josh was insane with his PB and Ponti also so there were a lot of strong opponents.”
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- DAY 9 FINALS RESULTS
Great that the Gold and Silver broke 50 seconds! The younger Canadian will hopefully do it at the next World Championships.
Of course, after Milak.