Paris Olympics, Day 8 Prelims: In Pursuit of Sprint Double, Sarah Sjostrom Cruises to Top Seed in 50 Freestyle

Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden celebrates after winning the gold medal in the 50m Butterfly Women Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 29th, 2023.

Paris Olympics, Day 8 Prelims: In Pursuit of Sprint Double, Sarah Sjostrom Cruises to Top Seed in 50 Freestyle

When Sarah Sjostrom stood on the top step of the medals podium earlier this week, it was a surprise appearance. The Swedish star was presented a gold medal for her work in the 100-meter freestyle, an event she initially planned on bypassing.

In the 50 freestyle, the expectations are reversed.

The overwhelming favorite to capture gold, Sjostrom blazed through the opening round of the 50 freestyle on Saturday morning at La Defense Arena in Paris. The world-record holder in the event, Sjostrom clocked a time of 23.85. That effort was comfortably clear of the 24.27 that was managed by Poland’s Kasia Wasick, who will be the No. 2 seed for the semifinals.

Three years ago, Sjostrom was the silver medalist in the 50 free at the Tokyo Games, placing behind Australian Emma McKeon. But since that runner-up showing, the Swede has been an untouchable force in the one-lap sprint. In addition to collecting three consecutive world titles (2022-24), Sjostrom set a world record of 23.61 at the 2023 World Champs. The next closest performer in history is Germany’s Britta Steffen, whose best time of 23.73 was set at the peak of the super-suit era.

American Gretchen Walsh, the silver medalist in the 100 butterfly on the second night of competition in Paris, advanced to the semifinals as the third seed. Walsh touched the wall in 24.37.

“I feel really good about the race,” Walsh said. “I feel like normally, Day 8 prelims is a pretty hard one to get through. The fact that I was able to show up and put up a pretty good time for me, I’m pretty excited about tonight. I think I executed pretty well, and I’m just looking forward to having the opportunity to swim again in semifinals and hopefully finals, and I also have the relay to focus on at night.”

Walsh was followed by Australia’s Shayna Jack (24.38) and Meg Harris (24.50). The sixth slot went to China’s Zhang Yufei (24.54).

“That was my first individual on the Olympic stage, so it was nice to just get out there, see how the competitions is, see how I feel in the pool,” Harris said. “I’m happy with that.”

The United States’ Simone Manuel was locked out of the semifinals after going 24.87 in her heat. That effort finished in a tie for 18th and was .15 shy of what was needed to reach the evening session.

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