Olympic Games: the consecration for Caeleb Dressel, Maxime Grousset takes a date

King of the sprint on the Olympiad and two-time reigning 100m world champion, Caeleb Dressel won Olympic consecration in the queen race at the Tokyo Games this Thursday.

Maxime Grousset, at the foot of the podium at the age of 22, took a date for his part in view of Paris 2024. Never had an Olympic 100m final been so fast: Dressel, a hot start as usual, completed the first leg. -back in 47''02, his second best time over the distance.

Just enough to resist the formidable return of the outgoing Olympic champion, the Australian Kyle Chalmers (47''08).

In full progress and best time in the semi-finals (47''11), the young Russian Kliment Kolesnikov (21) won the bronze medal (47''44).

To discover

• The full Olympic program

• The Olympic medal table

Seeing Dressel triumph over 100m is all that makes more sense in view of the past Olympiad.

Since the summer of his explosion in 2017, the 24-year-old American has amassed thirteen world championship titles, including two in the 100m, and became the fastest swimmer in history on the round-trip out combinations (46''96 in 2019).

The only one under 47 seconds.

However, the Florida sprinter, crowned twice in the relay in Rio, and a third time with the men's 4x100m in the Tokyo basin, did not yet know the happiness of an Olympic coronation in individual.

I didn't want to admit it before but now that it's done, I can say it: it's very different.

Caeleb Dressel

He took the time to appreciate it, sitting for a long time on its water line, giving off an impression of fullness. Then, on the podium, he let the tears run down his face, even largely hidden under the imposing white mask of "

", when the American anthem resounded. "

" from a coronation in relay, admits Dressel. “

», Continues the American, increased in power over the laps.

Dressel still has his work cut out for him in Tokyo: he is aiming for four more gold medals by Sunday, in the 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 4x100m men's and mixed medley.

It was already a kid's dream to make a final, so being in the top four ...

Maxime Grousset

For Chalmers, finally six hundredths behind Dressel by equaling his best time, the silver medal rewards his efforts to extricate himself from a complicated Olympiad, between three heart operations to treat an arrhythmia, a first return in 2019 to become vice-world champion in the 100m (in 47''08 already), and shoulder surgery at the end of 2020. For his first Olympic final at 22, Maxime Grousset was quite up to the challenge. event: the Caledonian finished fourth in 47''72. “

” he smiles. "

”adds Grousset, personal record lowered by more than a second in two months and also engaged in 50m from Friday, like Florent Manaudou.

In the women's 4x200m, once is not customary, neither Ariarne Titmus nor Katie Ledecky, despite a last stint of fire, were adorned with gold, snatched by the Chinese quartet (7'40''33, record for world) ahead of Americans and Australians. Like Ledecky over 1,500m the day before, his compatriot Robert Finke became the first Olympic champion in history over 800m (7'41''87). Author of dazzling progress this year, the Australian Izaac Stubblety-Cook won the 200m breaststroke (2'06''38), and the Chinese Zhang Yufei won gold in the 200m butterfly (2'03 86) after silver in the 100m butterfly on Monday.