Mireia Belmonte remains 23 hundredths behind the bronze in 400 styles

Mireia Belmonte did the perfect race and was barely able to finish fourth in the final of 400 meters styles. He squared the equation, given his limited physical condition after completing the most indulgent and rugged Olympic cycle of his career, riddled with injuries and gaps in his training schedule. His time, 4m 35.13s, was the product of masterful energy management. His best brand in years. Years of downturn that closed in Tokyo at the limit. The bronze escaped him by 23 hundredths. Its value was 4m 34.90s, time made by the American Hali Flickinger. Emma Weyant repeated her best time of the year with 4m 32.76s, and the very fine Yui Ohashi became the first Japanese swimmer who enjoyed the honor of offering a gold to her audience in the championships of the organizing country (4m 32.08s).

Mireia Belmonte, during the final.Fernando Bizerra / EFE

Never in the history of the 400 styles, neither in World Cups nor in Games, has a swimmer older than 30 years stood on the podium.

Mireia Belmonte leaned closer than anyone to the barrier.

"I have stayed close, but I have given everything and I have not been able to do more," said the Spanish.

“Right now the feeling is a bit strange because I am competitive and I like to fight and be in the top positions.

But after this year I did not expect this result.

The truth is that I was from January to May without being able to train, but in the end I was able to advance more quickly.

I arrived here uncertain.

I didn't know the way it was.

In the end, it turned out well ”.

Only the shouts of swimmers and coaches lined the empty stands of the Tokyo Aquatic Center, conceived as a temple to a sport that in Japan deserves reverence. The first day of the end of the Olympic championship made clear the state of melancholy that the host country is going through in the face of the new wave of the covid pandemic. The 400 styles didn't help the general furore, either. This is a depressed test. Ohashi's tears and stupor as he emerged from the pool reflected his surprise at the position. Trained by the great Norimasa Hirai, true consul of Japanese swimming, Ohashi sums up the class, elegance and care for the balance of an unequaled school. But his registration would not have served him to win silver in Rio or in London. At the 2008 Beijing Games,The first and last to be held under the influence of polyurethane swimsuits, the brand would not have reached it even to get on a podium that the Australian Stephanie Rice occupied after setting the world record in 4m 29.35s.

From the left, Mireia Belmonte, Aimee Willmott, Emma Weyant and Yui Ohashi, during the final.

FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT / AFP

Katinka Hosszu smashed the record in Rio five years ago with 4m 26.36s.

But in Tokyo he could not overcome his partial back.

The Hungarian, who for a time made her back a specialty and a lever that served her to avoid rivals, lost the silver while swimming her reference style, the same one that gave her the gold in the final of 100 backstrokes in 2016. Seeing herself back, he found himself without stimuli.

It usually happens when you don't feel comfortable overpowering.

He finished in fifth place with 4m35s long minutes.

At 32, the self-proclaimed

receives warning signs.

Twilight is coming.

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