Though he fell short of his Olympic gold aspirations, Daniel Wiffen put in an additional gallant performance, securing the bronze medal in the 1,500 metres freestyle at La Defense Arena on Sunday. This third-place position took Ireland’s medal tally at these Games to seven, worthily exceeding the total of six previously won in London in 2012.
Rather than being Wiffen’s day, Sunday favoured Bobby Finke of the USA. Finke had relinquished his 800m title to Wiffen earlier in the week, but returned splendidly on Sunday setting a new world record of 14:30.67, successfully retaining the title which was his in Tokyo.
The silver prize was rewarded to Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri who finished with a time of 14:34.55, a swimmer who won the same event in Rio in 2016. Wiffen managed to secure the bronze with a time of 14:39.63, but, realistically, the prospect of a second gold seemed out of reach as Finke’s performance was unparalleled. Hungary’s David Betlehem landed the fourth position finishing in 14:40.91.
Moreover, Finke’s objective was to also make history as the first American to claim a medal in an individual swimming event in Paris, an unusual situation in their extensive record. His world record-breaking pace trumped the previous record, 14:31.02, owned by China’s Sun Yang since the 2012 London Olympics.
Whilst Wiffen’s bronze helps drive Ireland’s medal count to seven, the IOC announces flawed and invalid gender tests on boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting by the IBA. At the 1,000m juncture, Finke marginally outpaced the world record, leading the pack with Paltrinieri and Wiffen trailing a full body length. Shortly after, Wiffen dropped more than two seconds behind with approximately 800m left to swim, signalling an early end to his hopes of securing a gold medal.
Wiffen expressed mixed emotions to RTE post-race, stating, “There’s a sense of joy yet a twinge of disappointment.” Reflecting on his performance over the week, he couldn’t be more satisfied, considering he secured his status as an Olympic titleholder. Even though he had earlier expressed contentment on achieving any medal, obtaining gold during the first race raised his expectations. Albeit being thrilled with the bronze, it fell short of his preceding accomplishment. The 23-year-old Armagh native, already making history as the first Irishman to earn a swimming medal, is gearing up to compete once more in the 10km marathon swim in the Seine happening next Friday.