American Huske surprises compatriot Walsh to win gold in 100m butterfly

Torri Huske is the new queen of the 100m butterfly, after winning in Paris / Photo: The Washington Post

American Torri Huske has broken the odds and has been crowned the new Olympic champion in the 100m butterfly, beating her compatriot Gretchen Walsh, who seemed destined to win, by just 0.4 seconds.

This is especially true after the outstanding performance of Walsh, the world record holder for the distance, in the semi-finals, in which she set a new Olympic record with a time of 55.38 seconds.

A time that Gretchen Walsh was unable to repeat in the final, despite the spectacular performance of the American, who completed the first 50 metres of the race in a time of 25.40, five hundredths of a second below her own world record.

Antecedent

But if last June at the US Olympic selection trials Walsh returned in 29.73 to set a new world record of 55.18 seconds, this time he swam over 30 seconds.

A circumstance that Torri Huske, world champion in 2022 in Budapest, did not waste to snatch victory in the last few strokes and crown herself the new Olympic champion with a time of 55.59 seconds.

Four hundredths less than Gretchen Walsh, who had to settle for the silver medal with a time of 55.63, and 62 less than the Chinese Yufei Zhang, who dropped one step on the podium compared to the last Olympic Games in Tokyo and took the bronze with a time of 56.21.

Paris / EFE