Bobby Finke of the USA smashed the men’s 1,500 metres freestyle world record as he retained the Olympic gold medal
The win put the United States on top of the medal table at the Games with two events remaining in swimming
Finke touched the wall in 14 minutes, 30.67 seconds at La Defense Arena, eclipsing Sun Yang’s 12-year-old mark of 14:31.02 set at the London Games
Finke was under world record pace the entire race and accelerated in the final length to ensure he set a new mark
Finke became the first male swimmer to go back-to-back in the gruelling event since Australia’s Grant Hackett in 2000-04
Gallant Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri took silver, 3.88 seconds behind Finke, with Daniel Wiffen, the 800m gold medallist, taking the bronze for Ireland
Three years after winning the 800m and 1,500m golds at Tokyo, Finke marked his place among the titans of distance swimming
Katie Ledecky, Finke’s training partner, was celebrating in the crowd as she watched her teammates break the world record