World Championships: Several Paris Olympic Medalists Having Rough Go in Singapore
The first two days of the World Championships have proven rough for several reigning Olympic medalists, including Great Britain’s Matt Richards. During Monday’s evening session, Richards finished 12th in the semifinals of the 200-meter freestyle, with his swim of 1:45.85 leaving the 22-year-old .25 shy of advancing to the final. But Richards isn’t the only Paris medalist to struggle.
In addition to Richards, four other athletes from last summer’s Olympics failed to qualify for the final of an event in which they earned a medal. The Brit is the most notable miss, since he was the 2023 world champion in the 200 freestyle and was the silver medalist at the 2024 Games in 1:44.74, just .02 behind Romania’s David Popovici. At the latest edition of the World Champs, Richards was more than a second slower in his semifinal outing.
It isn’t unusual for athletes to not match their times from an Olympic campaign, but the early misses on qualifying for a final are surprising.
Other Paris medalists who failed to advance to the final at Worlds included:
- Elijah Winnington: The Australian was the silver medalist in the 400 freestyle last summer, but he missed the final in Singapore by placing 10th in his best event. Winnington covered his prelim of the 400 free in 3:46.37, more than four seconds off his time from Paris.
- Mona McSharry: After securing the bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke at La Defense Arena, McSharry was 11th in the semifinals of the event at Worlds. The Irishwoman was timed in 1:06.33, which was .74 off her performance from the Olympics.
- Xu Jiayu: The Chinese backstroke star, a multi-time world champion and the silver medalist in the 100 backstroke at the Paris Games, wasn’t close to returning to the final. Xu recorded a time of 53.14 in the semifinals, which was .57 out of eighth place. At the Olympics, Xu produced a time of 52.32.
- Isabel Gose: The bronze medalist in the 1500 freestyle at the Paris Games, the German was ninth in the heats of the 30-lap event, going 16:08.41. While that time was just .22 out of eighth, it was 27-plus seconds slower than the national record Gose delivered last summer.
