Paris 2024 Olympics: Romania’s Popovici takes men’s 200 metres freestyle gold

Popovici, the 2022 world champion in Budapest, won in a time of one minute 44.72 seconds, having been behind until the final 50 in the second race of another raucous evening at the La Defense Arena.

David Popovici, of Romania, reacts after winning the men’s 200-meter freestyle final at the 2024 Summer Olympics. | Photo Credit: AP

Romania’s David Popovici beat Britain’s Matt Richards by a knife-edge 0.02 of a second to win the men’s 200-metre freestyle gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday.

Luke Hobson of the United States took the bronze, 0.07 of a second behind the winner.

Popovici, the 2022 world champion in Budapest, won in a time of one minute 44.72 seconds, having been behind until the final 50 in the second race of another raucous evening at the La Defense Arena.

Germany’s 400 free champion Lukas Maertens led at the first turn, and Popovici dropped to third behind Richards at the 100 mark but was ahead again at 150 and took over at the front as Maertens faded to fifth.

Reigning Olympic champion Tom Dean failed to qualify for the event after finishing third at the British trials in April behind Richards and Duncan Scott, the Tokyo 2021 silver medallist.

Scott finished fourth, dashing his hopes of taking back immediately the outright mantle of Britain’s most-medalled swimmer after teammate Adam Peaty equalled his six with a silver on Sunday.

Peaty had missed out on what would have been his third successive gold in the 100 breaststroke final by the same 0.02 margin as Richards.

“I thought I had got it, it felt as if I had touched it first,” Richards said of the agonising outcome. “The time says differently.

“I can’t be too disappointed with that,” he added of his first individual Olympic medal after 4x200 free relay gold in Tokyo. “To be two 100ths off gold is excruciatingly frustrating.”