Kharun captures bronze; McIntosh to swim for another medal at Paris 2024

Swimming in his first Olympic final, Ilya Kharun captured his first Olympic medal on Day 5 of Paris 2024.

Kharun completed the men’s 200m butterfly in a Canadian record time of 1:52.80, winning bronze. France’s Leon Marchand, who had much of the Paris La Défense Arena cheering him on, won gold in an Olympic record time 1:51.21. Kristóf Milák of Hungary, the world record holder, was passed by Marchand in the final 50m and had to settle for silver.

READ: Kharun swims to bronze for Canada’s first ever Olympic podium in men’s 200m butterfly

The 19-year-old qualified for the final by posting the third fastest time in Tuesday’s semifinals. Only Marchand and Milák had better times.

Kharun is competing in his first Olympic Games and is relatively new to the international swimming scene. He entered the Games with the Canadian record in the 200m butterfly — set in his fourth-place finish at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships — a record he beat on Wednesday by just over a second.

He becomes the first Canadian man to win an Olympic medal in the 200m butterfly and the first to win a medal in any swimming event since London 2012.

Building off the energy in the pool, Summer McIntosh posted the best time in the semifinals of the women’s 200m butterfly to secure a spot in Thursday’s final. The 17-year-old won gold in the event at the 2022 and 2023 World Aquatics Championships.

McIntosh’s time of 2:04.87 was .52 seconds faster than second-place finisher Regan Smith of the United States. The Canadian, who preserved some energy in the morning heats by posting a time of 2:07.70, turned up the pace in the final 50m to edge Smith.

“The crowd being so electric and coming out right after that men’s 200m fly final, it honestly gave me that extra little boost because that was absolutely crazy,” McIntosh told CBC about her strong final lap.

The women’s 200m butterfly final will be held Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET. McIntosh will look to win her third medal in Paris following a gold medal win in the 400m individual medley and a silver in the 400m freestyle.

Sydney Pickrem and Kelsey Wog, meanwhile, both swam in the women’s 200m breaststroke semifinals Tuesday evening. Pickrem, with a time of 2:24.03, nearly qualified for the final, finishing with the ninth-best time. Wog posted a time of 2:24.82 to finish 13th. The top eight advanced.

Both raced in the morning heats as well, with Wog posting a time of 2:25.11 to finish 12th overall while Pickrem swam to a time of 2:25.45 to finish 13th. The top 16 swimmers qualified for the evening semifinals.

On the men’s side, Blake Tierney swam in the morning heats of the men’s 200m backstroke but, with a time of 1:58.39, just missed out on qualifying for the evening semifinals, placing 19th. The top 16 advanced.

Swimming pool events continue until August 4 (Day 9) at Paris 2024.