USA, Caeleb Dressel dominate men's 4x100 freestyle, earn United States' first 2024 Olympic gold medal
The United States claimed its first gold medal in the pool and its first gold medal overall at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, doing so in the men’s 4×100 meter freestyle on Saturday afternoon.
The men claimed the gold medal in dominant fashion after pushing past China on the first leg of the race.
“It was really special. It was really special,” anchor leg swimmer Caeleb Dressel said after the win. “My son getting to watch me win a gold medal is everything. I know that last 50 I just wanted to get a gold medal for these guys. I’ve had my moments in this sport. It’s time for these guys to have some fun.”
The race for the United States starred Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel. Armstrong swam at Ohio State and West Virginia, Guiliano swam at Notre Dame, while Dressel swam at Florida.
After earlier races in the pool had starred Australian swimmers, Team USA finally notched a win… against the Australians. Australia finished in second in the men’s 4×100 meter freestyle, finishing 1.07 seconds behind the Americans. Italy took home the bronze.
Team USA got off to a slightly sub-par start but quickly regained ground and closed down China. It maintained the lead for the second half of the race, with the star, Caeleb Dressel, anchoring things.
“It’s really special, it’s what we came here to do,” Dressel said. “That’s why it was so tough to make the team. And we won by over a second, so that’s what we came here to do and we did it in good fashion.”
Dressel claimed his eighth Olympic medal with the win, all gold. He’ll look to continue his dominance in the pool the rest of the way.
The former Florida star was one of the real standouts in the Tokyo Olympic Games four years ago, claiming five gold medals. He won gold in the 4×100 freestyle, the 4×100 medley, the 50 freestyle, the 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
The Sunday Schedule at the Olympics
There will be more heroics in the pool to come for Team USA and Caeleb Dressel, but following the schedule at the Olympics can be a bit confusing. There are so many events to track, with a lot to keep up with.
Sunday will include a little bit of everything, from badminton to surfing and everything in between.
You can view a complete listing of all of Sunday’s events that are scheduled to take place in one spot below, with On3 compiling a complete list in standard US time zones.