Hungary’s Kristof Milak brought joy to his home crowd by smashing his own world record to win the men’s 200m butterfly, powering to the gold medal in a time of 1:50.34, at the World Championships on Tuesday.
Olympic champion Milak beat the record he set at the 2019 Worlds in Gwangju by 0.39 seconds and finished 3.03 seconds ahead of silver medallist Leon Marchand of France.
“It was a fantastic feeling. As soon as I stepped in the starting area, I didn’t hear or see anything. It was like being in a dream. I waited three years to swim a personal best and it came off,” he said.
Electric late burst
Bobby Finke of the United States won the men’s 800m freestyle with an electric late burst to finish ahead of Germany’s Florian Wellbrock and Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk.
The win for Finke was a boost for the U.S team after 100m free Olympic and World champion Caeleb Dressel pulled out of the event for medical reasons. Dressel later decided to withdraw from the championships.
Nic Fink delivered a second victory for the U.S., winning the 50m breaststroke in 26.45, three hundredths of a second ahead of Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi with another American Michael Andrew taking bronze.
USA claimed the 4x100m mixed medley race with ease, with Hunter Armstrong leading off in backstroke before Fink extended the lead in breaststroke.
China’s Yang Junxuan won the women’s 200m freestyle in a time of 1:54.92, beating Australia’s highly rated 18-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan.
The results:
Men: 800m freestyle: 1. Bobby Finke (USA) 7:39.36s, 2. Florian Wellbrock (Ger) 7:39.63, 3. Mykhailo Romanchuk (Ukr) 7:40.05.
200m butterfly: 1. Kristof Milak (Hun), 1:50.34s (WR), 2. Leon Marchand (Fra) 1:53.37, 3. Honda Tomoru (Jpn) 1:53.61.
50m breaststroke: 1. Nic Fink (USA) 26.45s, 2. Nicolo Martinenghi (Ita) 26.48, 3. Michael Andrew (USA) 26.72.
Women: 200m freestyle: 1. Yang Junxuan (Chn) 1:54.92s, 2. Mollie O’Callaghan (Aus) 1:55.22, 3. Tang Muhan (Chn) 1:56.25.
Mixed 4x100m medley relay: 1. USA 3:38.79s, 2. Australia 3:41.34, 3. the Netherlands 3:41.54.
