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NANTERRE, France — Breaking the world record was not Bobby Finke’s plan for the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final. Taking it out fast wasn’t part of the 24-year-old American swimmer’s strategy either. 

But he wanted to defend his Olympic title from the 2021 Tokyo Games, and he knew he was Team USA’s last chance to win a men’s individual gold medal at the Paris Olympics. If he didn’t, it would have been the first time the American men left the Olympics without an individual swimming gold since 1900 (with the exception of the 1980 boycotted Games).

“I'm just happy I won really,” Finke said. “I had a lot of pressure going into the race.”

The two-time Olympian quickly took the lead on the first lap of the longest race in the pool and never relinquished it, winning his second 1,500 free Olympic gold and setting a world record in the process.

“I could see the world record line on the board a couple of times,” he said. “It wasn't like I was trying to see it. I just happened to see it.”

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He won with a time of 14:30.67, besting the world record set by China's Sun Yang in 2012 (14.31.02) by nearly a half a second. Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri took silver with a time of 14.34.55, and Ireland's Daniel Wiffen got bronze in 14.39.63.

“I knew he was going [to] change his tactics, and the only problem was, I didn't see it,” Wiffen said. “I was looking that way, but I got body-blocked by [Paltrinieri]...By the time I noticed, I saw [his] leg kick, I was like, ‘Oh, OK, now it's going to be a very painful 1,500 for me.’”

Finke noted that he could also see his “pretty decent” lead at the 300-meter mark, so he kept digging. He wasn’t trying to build on his lead with each 100; he said he’s better when he works to maintain the pace he goes out with because it’s “easier and a lot less stressful.”

But he also wasn’t interested in blowing it. 

“I knew I just had to keep going and hopefully try and make the guys hurt a little bit trying to catch up to me,” Finke said. “They started catching up to me, and I was getting a little worried...

“At like that 300 mark, I was maybe like a body length [ahead]. I was like, ‘I can't let go of this now. I can't be the guy who got ran down after I do all the running down.’ So that was also a big factor in my mind.”

Turns out, he didn’t take it out too fast, and he had enough left in the tank for a 26.27-second final 50 compared with his 28- and 29-second 50s throughout most of the mile.

Finke also won a silver medal in the men’s 800 freestyle at these Games behind Wiffin, and at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he won gold in both men’s distance events. 

“I was disappointed after the 800. I really wanted to defend that medal too,” Finke added. 

“So I really wanted to get on top of the podium again and hear the anthem all over again, like I did for the first time in Tokyo. So being able to do that — listen to it and hand over my heart — it was a dream.”

Follow Michelle R. Martinelli on X (fomerly Twitter) at @MMartinelli4.

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