Paris Olympics: Regan Smith, Pan Zhanle Top Individual Relay Performers; Powered Squads to Gold

Paris Olympics: Regan Smith, Pan Zhanle Top Individual Relay Performers of Games; Powered Squads to Gold

One gave her country the jumpstart it needed. The other provided his nation with a closing flourish. Regardless of their different roles in relay competition, the United States’ Regan Smith and China’s Pan Zhanle did what was necessary to deliver Olympic gold on the final night of competition in Paris.

It’s the reason they have been selected as the Top Individual Relay Performers from the Paris Games.

As the U.S. lined up for the women’s 400-meter medley relay at La Defense Arena, the outcome was hardly in question. With a stacked lineup, Team USA was the heavy favorite and only a disaster would keep the Red, White and Blue off the top step of the podium. The real question: Could the United States break its world record, which had held firm since the 2019 World Championships.

Putting an exclamation point on the nine-day meet, the United States didn’t just lower its world record. It blasted the standard. The quartet of Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske registered a time of 3:49.63 to slice .77 off the previous standard and become the first team under the 3:50 barrier.

Smith served as the catalyst, as she handled the leadoff backstroke leg and produced her best effort of what was a sterling week for the 22-year-old. The two-time Olympian left Paris with five medals, including a trio of silver medals in solo competition. Smith was the runnerup to Australian Kaylee McKeown in both backstroke events and placed second to Canadian star Summer McIntosh in the 200 butterfly.

For her finale, Smith was intent on exiting in style.

Propelling the American medley relay into a lead it would not relinquish, Smith clocked 57.28 for her backstroke leg. That time ranks as the second-fastest in history, trailing only Smith’s world record of 57.13, and was faster than the 57.33 that McKeown posted to win gold earlier in the meet in the 100 backstroke.

The momentum generated by Smith was carried forward by King, who covered the breaststroke in 1:04.90, and Walsh, who registered a 55.03 split on the butterfly leg. Huske capped the gold-medal showing with a freestyle leg of 52.42.

While the American women routed the competition in the medley relay, China relied on the heroics of Pan to capture the first men’s relay title in its history. He was the perfect guy to anchor and used the opportunity to further define himself as the sport’s undeniable king of the 100 freestyle.

Zhanle Pan of China competes in the swimming 100m Freestyle Men Final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Defense Arena in Paris (France), July 31, 2024.

Four days prior to the final of the 400 medley relay, Pan put on a show in the 100 freestyle. Racing against a stacked field that included a former Olympic champ and world-record holder, the Chinese standout destroyed his foes. Lowering his own world record, Pan blasted a mark of 46.40 to claim gold by more than a second over 2016 Olympic champ Kyle Chalmers (47.48). More, Pan took .40 off his previous world record, marking the biggest cut to the event’s global standard since 1976.

So, when China was introduced for the 400 medley relay, it went to work with the comfort of Pan as a game-changer. Following the contributions of Xu Jiayu (backstroke), Qin Haiyang (breaststroke) and Sun Jiajun (butterfly), China sat in third place, .75 out of the lead. That deficit did not last, however, as Pan fired off a freestyle anchor of 45.92, the fastest in history.

The outcome was a gold medal for China, which got to the wall in 3:27.46, .55 ahead of the United States’ silver-medal time of 3:28.01.

“I went 46.40 in the individual event. It’s not like I went from 47 in the individual to 46.0 or 46.1 in the relay, so I wouldn’t say it’s shocking. It’s just a normal performance,” Pan said. “Moving forward, I’m going to settle down and go for more breakthroughs…This just means I’ve reached a good level. I proved myself.”

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