The Hungarian team entered the final with the second time behind the favorite Australians in the morning preliminaries, but winning a medal beforehand would have been an unearthly feat, since the rivals almost without exception had swimmers who could run the 200 meters between 1:55 and 1:56 minutes. for example, eight-time Olympic champion American Katie Ledecky.
Compared to the European Championships in Belgrade, it was a change that already in the morning Pádár was the first person to try to pass the imaginary baton in the best possible place. The 18-year-old excellence from Szeged – who was individually disqualified due to his movement before the start – improved his own junior European record (1:56.17) and changed it with 1:56.14.
Ábrahám carved more than half a second off his morning time, but Késely made it worse. The finishing man, Ugrai, started the last 200 meters in sixth place, he was also able to surpass himself, thanks to which the team kept its position and finished with 7:50.52 minutes.
The event was won by the Australians with an Olympic record of 7:38.08 minutes.
Women’s 4×200 m relay, Olympic champion:
Australia (Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell, Ariarne Titmus) 7:38.08 minutes
2. United States (Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, Katie Ledecky, Erin Gemmel) 7:40.86
3. China (Yang Yun-hsuan, Li Ping-jie, Ko Chu-dong, Liu Ya-hsin) 7:42.34
6. HUNGARY (Nikolett Pádár, Minna Ábrahám, Ajna Késely, Panna Ugrai) 7:50.52
Ajna Késely, Panna Ugrai (back), Minna Ábrahám and Nikolett Pádár (right), members of the Hungarian relay in the final of the women’s 4×200 meter relay at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics at the Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre near Paris 2024. on August 1. The Hungarian relay team finished in sixth place. (photos: MTI/Tamás Kovács)
Cover image: Members of the Hungarian relay team in the women’s 4×200 meter relay final at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris at the Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre, near Paris, on August 1, 2024. The Hungarian relay team finished in sixth place