In an exciting finish to the 2024 Paris Olympics swimming meet, the American women racing in the women's 4x100 medley relay set a new world record on their way to the gold medal.
The team of Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske set a new world record of 3:46.63, breaking the last world record of 3:50.40 set by the U.S. at the 2019 world championships.
Australia won the silver with a time of 3:53.11 and China won the bronze coming in at 3:53.23.
The United States finished with eight gold medals to edge out rival Australia, which won seven events. Still, it was the lowest victory total for the U.S. team since the 1988 Seoul Games, when they were beaten by a doping-tainted East German program.
Four world records were set during the meet, three of them by the Americans.
King made up for a disappointing showing in her individual events by powering the Americans to the lead on the breaststroke segment. Then it was Walsh and Huske, two of the biggest U.S. stars at these game, bringing it home in 3 minutes, 49.63 seconds to break the world record.
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Smith led off in the backstroke leg, earning a relay gold for the second night in a row after starting her Olympic career with five silvers and a bronze.
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics
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The U.S. has now won 11 gold medals in the 4x100m medley relay in Olympic history. Australia won the gold in Tokyo 2020.
Gretchen Walsh will leave Paris with four medals at the Olympics: gold in the 4x100m medley relay, gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay, silver in the 4x100 free relay, and silver in the 100m butterfly.
The Americans finished with 28 total swimming medals at these Games, two shy of their total three years ago in Tokyo.
