First gold, now bronze. Champion Romanian teenage swimmer David Popovici is coming home with his second Olympic medal, a bronze he took in the men’s 100m freestyle in the fastest ever Olympic final.
Just one-hundredth of a second separated him from the silver medal as he took third place with a time of 47.49 at La Defense Arena in Paris. China’s Zhanle Pan’s broke his own world record, finishing in 46.40 more than a second ahead of other Popovici and Australia’s Kyle Chalmers.
He sliced 0.40 seconds off his previous world record, set at the World Championships in Doha in February.
The medals crown the 19-year-old as Romania’s best-ever male swimmer.
“I’m not disappointed at all (with the bronze medal). I’m calmer and maybe a little happier than after the gold, because now I can relax,” he told Agerpres news agency.
“After I won the gold, I was thinking that I needed to rest very well because I had another Olympic event. I gave it my best in the final; it’s the only thing that matters.”
The teen star said his hard work had paid off: “My real goal wasn’t necessarily to have fun, but to feel good.”
Popovici, who turns 20 in September, started his stellar career at the Tokyo Olympics in when he was only 16 years old, finishing seventh in the men’s 100m freestyle and fourth in the 200mfreestyle.
David Popovici, Romanian wunderkind, wins gold medal 100 meter freestyle
