With World Record holder and defending Olympic champion Sun Yang missing out, there was set to be a new Olympic champion in the 1500-meter freestyle. Americans Connor Jaeger and Jordan Wilimovsky were the second and third-fastest qualifiers after the early stages, but they were playing second fiddle to Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy.
In the end, it was Paltrinieri who won gold. Jaeger won the silver while Wilimovsky finished in fourth.
Italians And Americans Lead The Charge
Paltrineri cruised to the top in qualifying with a time of 14:45.5 with Jaeger over a second back. Wilimovsky was just under four seconds back and barely edged out Australia’s Mack Horton, one of Sun Yang’s biggest rivals, was a medal threat if he swam a smart race and knew that this was his best shot at Olympic gold without Yang in the field.
Paltrineri’s countryman, Gabriele Detti was not too far off the pace that Wilimovsky and Horton set, and the same could be said for Damien Joly of France, so we were going to be in for a fantastic race for the podium. Henrik Christiansen and Ryan Cochrane were the final two qualifiers.
Paltrineri Dominates From The Get-Go
Cochrane of Canada was out early, trying to take out the pace before Paltrineri overtook the lead. The Italian in Lane 4 and Cochrane were known for being high-tempo swimmers in this race while Jaeger was more methodical, so this was going to be a race of strategy and will.
Paltrineri continued to lead and extend it with an over three second lead over Mack Horton and Jaeger after 900 meters. The Italian was swimming under World Record pace and his strokes per 50 was staggering, going an average 39 stroke per 50, a full eight strokes over Jaeger's 31.
The high-tempo swimming of Paltrineri started to slow him down as the World Record line slowly began to catch up to him, but he continued to battle with a big lead over the two Americans and Aussie.
With 300 meters left, Paltrineri was over a second and a half on Sun Yang's World Record while Jaeger and Wilimovsky continued to hang on to second and third. Horton began to fade while Detti began to put the pressure on Wilimovsky.
Detti soon passed Wilimovsky and with 100 to go, Paltrinieri was battling for the World Record. The Italian in Lane 2 soon battled Jaeger in Lane 5 for the silver. The World Record line eluded the Italian, but it was no matter as Paltrineri swam his way to gold while Jaeger took the silver, setting a new American Record in the process.