Team USA duo Torri Huske, Gretchen Walsh win gold, silver in Women's 100m Fly at 2024 Olympics
Two American college swimmers earned gold and silver in the Women’s 100M Butterfly competiton in Paris on Sunday.
Stanford swimmer Torri Huske won the gold medal, edging teammate and Virginia standout Gretchen Walsh by 0.04 seconds to secure the first and second-place finish. The bronze went to China’s Zhang Yufei.
Huske and Walsh embraced after realizing the results, sharing a special moment together in the pool that they likely will never forget. It’s the first time that the United States has captured gold and silver in this same event since the 1984 Games, according to the broadcast.
The duo worked together on Saturday to help the U.S. women capture silver in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, meaning the duo now have two medals to their name two days after the opening ceremony.
This culminates the ultiamte redemption story for Huske, who was 0.01 seconds away from winning bronze in the same event in Toyko in 2021. She was 0.14 seconds away from the gold as well. Maggie MacNeil — a Michigan and LSU product who finished fifth in the event with a time of56.44 on Sunday — won the gold medal with a time of 55.59 in 2021, and Huske’s final time on Sunday was the same exact time.
“I feel like I’m in shock right now,” Huske said after exiting the pool. “Like, I don’t even know how to process it, like I need to cry but I’m also smiling.”
Walsh was the favorite coming into the race, as her 55.18-second finish at the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis in the same event last month is a world record. The sister to Olympic swimmer Alex Walsh, Gretchen adds a second silver medal to her totals in Paris.
The loss is certainly bittersweet for Walsh, who has done essetially all there is to do in collegiate swimming. She swept all seven of her events at the 2024 NCAA Championships and after setting an all-time best in the trials, there’s no question the 21-year-old will be eyeing the same event in four year’s time.
Just because Huske won gold doesn’t mean she has wrapped up her Olympic slate, however. Instead, she’ll be back in the pool for Heat 4 of the Women’s 100m Freestyle on Tuesday. If she advances, she will also compete in the Women’s 100m Freestyle semifinals that same day. The finals is set for Wednesdat at 2:30 p.m. ET.