By Neil Leverett
- Tom Dean seals remarkable 200m freestyle gold on Day 3 of Tokyo 2020
- Duncan Scott claims silver, as GB swimmers finish 1-2 for first time since 1908
- Third gold for Team GB in pool after Adam Peaty and Tom Daley win gold on Day 3
TOKYO, JAPAN – Tom Dean and Duncan Scott complete a sensational 1-2 finish for Team GB in the men’s 200m freestyle final on Day 4 of Tokyo 2020.
Tom Dean on top of world
Tom Dean and Duncan Scott sealed a remarkable 1-2 finish for Team GB in the 200m freestyle at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, on Day 4 of Tokyo 2020.
As Dean clocked a winning time of 1.44.26, Scott finished behind his teammate by just 0.04 of a second, with the duo sealing an historic gold and silver finish.
It is the first time GB swimmers have stood on the top two steps of the podium since the 1908 Games in London.
It comes after Adam Peaty become the first British swimmer in Olympic history to successfully defend a gold medal in the pool, after he cruised to 100m breaststroke glory once more on Day 3.
Dean, 21, finished ahead of number one-ranked Scott, as the two Britons pushed through the field over the final 50m in Tokyo.
After Hwang Sunwoo went out to an early over the first two lengths of the Tokyo pool, the Korean was prevented from getting away by Dean however, as Hwang turned poorly at the 150m mark.
Fading badly, the surging Scott was expected to storm through, but instead Dean did not let up on a superb race pace, just beating the Edinburgh swimmer to the touch to claim a sensational win, as Brazil’s Fernando Scheffer took a surprise bronze.
For Scott, to lose by such a narrow margin will be a disappointment – and it showed – but his woes could soon be remedied in the relays later this week.
In not only his first Olympic meet but his first major international competition, Bath swimmer Dean meanwhile, has become the latest bright young thing from the current GB crop, as British swimming eyes further medals in the coming days.
Sealing both gold and silver for the first time in 113 years, those could come in the freestyles relays as documented towards the end of the week, which could now see the Brits challenge the United States for a first Olympic swimming relay title.
With the impressive Abbie Wood qualifying second fastest into the final of the 200m Individual Medley and Ben Proud to come in the 50m freestyle amongst others also, GB could continue to gleam in the Tokyo pool.
Peaty seals immortality
Adam Peaty was expected to be the man to open Team GB’s gold medal tally in Tokyo this summer, and the man from Uttoxeter delivered in typically dominant fashion early on Day 3.
Becoming the first British swimmer in history to defend his Olympic crown, the 26-year-old sealed sporting immortality, having now remarkably gone undefeated in a 100m breaststroke race since 2014.
With the medal finals taking place in the morning in Japan, there were some marginal concerns that pressure could affect Peaty, but despite the the emergence of the Netherlands’ rising start in Arno Kamminga in the heats, Peaty was the class above.
Having started on his slower starts, Peaty is now an increasingly dominant figure in the event if anything and though his times were not close to his world record split, it was only the gold that mattered, as Peaty exploded in a picture of relief at his win.
With just three years until Paris 2024, Peaty will look to continue his monopoly in the pool, and could – if he hasn’t already – become a true Olympic great in France in three years’ time.
The world is still Peaty’s oyster.
Team GB riding wave in Tokyo
It may have taken a few days, but Team GB are rolling as Tokyo 2020 hits its stride into Day 4.
Within hours of Peaty opening GB’s gold account in the 100m breaststroke, over in the diving pool, Tom Daley finally saw a lifetime ambition of Olympic glory come true at the fourth attempt.
Having debuted in Beijing thirteen years ago, the Plymouth diver was a victim of pressure and expectation and failed to deliver in both China and at London 2012, before finally taking bronze in the 10m synchro platform final in Rio with Dan Goodfellow.
With lesser hopes of him coming into his fourth Games and with a new and more composed – as Daley puts it – partner in Matty Lee, Daley now 27, put together perfect six dives with Olympic debutante, as the two pipped the dominant Chinese duo to an emotional gold.
With three out of four of Team GB’s golds coming in the Aquatics Centre thus far, the question now is, how many more could be to follow in the water during Tokyo 2020?
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