TOKYO — In a thrilling finish, U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel narrowly beat out Australia's Kyle Chalmers to claim his first-ever individual Olympic gold medal.
The 24-year-old sprinter set an Olympic record in the blazing fast two-lap race, with a time of 47.02 seconds. At the end, he smiled and raised both hands in the air, taking in the applause of his teammates at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.
Dressel has already won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay at these Olympics, and put up an even faster time in the 100 meter today. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, Dressel was part of the gold medal-winning relay team in the same event.
He holds the world record in the 100 meter butterfly — a record he's hoping to beat in Tokyo. That race's final is on Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET.
It was a strong day in the pool for the U.S.
Fellow Floridian Bobby Finke took gold in the 800 meter freestyle, the U.S. women including Katie Ledecky took silver in the 4x200 meter freestyle team relay, and Regan Smith and Hali Flickinger took silver and bronze in the 200 meter butterfly.
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