Another five-pack of medals is up for grabs on Night 4 of swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where superstars Katie Ledecky and Leon Marchand headline the action.
Ledecky will race her signature event, the 1500m freestyle, while Marchand chases gold in two events, the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke. Both men’s and women’s 100m freestyle finals also promise to deliver exciting finishes.
Catch the action in Paris beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, NBCOlympics.com, Peacock and more.
SEE MORE: How to watch swimming at the Paris Olympics: TV and stream schedule
Women’s 100m freestyle final
Australia’s “Red-Headed Rocket” Mollie O’Callaghan will attempt to become the first woman since 1980 to win gold in the 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle (which she won on Monday).
To do so, she’ll have to navigated a star-studded final featuring seven Olympic medalists, plus reigning world champion Marrit Steenbergen.
Americans will bookend the field with 100m butterfly gold medalist Torri Huske in Lane 1 and Gretchen Walsh, who finished second to Huske in the 100m fly, in Lane 8.
While O’Callaghan is the favorite for gold, all eight women have a realistic chance at the podium in this two-lap sprint.
MEDAL FAVORITES:
Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS)
Siobhan Haughey (HKG)
Shayna Jack (AUS)
THE AMERICANS:
Torri Huske
Gretchen Walsh
Men’s 200m butterfly final
In the first leg of a potential golden double, hometown French hero Leon Marchand will tackle the 200m butterfly.
Marchand, the 2023 world champion, will be up against world-record holder and 2022 world champ Kristof Milak of Hungary.
Both men won their respective semifinal heats, with Milak posting the top time, 0.78 seconds faster than Marchand.
17-year-old American Thomas Heilman missed out on this final by a quarter of a second.
MEDAL FAVORITES:
Leon Marchand (FRA)
Kristof Milak (HUN)
Ilya Kharun (CAN)
THE AMERICANS:
Thomas Heilman (DNQ for final)
Luca Urlando (DNQ for final)
Women’s 1500m freestyle final
There might not be a bigger favorite in any event in any sport at the Paris Olympics than Katie Ledecky is in the women’s 1500m freestyle.
The American distance great owns the 19 fastest times in the event’s history and won its Olympic debut in Tokyo by four seconds, which was close by Ledecky’s standards.
Barring a total shock, Ledecky will tie Jenny Thompson by winning her eighth career Olympic gold medal, further cementing her legacy as the greatest female swimmer of all time.
MEDAL FAVORITES:
Katie Ledecky (USA)
Simona Quadarella (USA)
Li Bingjie (CHN)
THE AMERICANS:
Katie Ledecky
Katie Grimes (DNQ for final)
Men’s 200m breaststroke final
Roughly 90 minutes after contesting the men’s 200m butterfly final, Marchand will be back on the pool deck with a great chance at another gold in the 200m breaststroke.
Though Marchand likely won’t be at his freshest for the race, he’ll be aided by the fact that China’s world-record holder, Qin Haiyang, did not qualify for the final.
Instead, his stiffest competition will likely come in the form of defending gold medalist Zac Stubblety-Cook of Australia. Both men won their respective semifinals Tuesday night.
MEDAL FAVORITES:
Leon Marchand (FRA)
Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS)
Ippei Watanabe (JPN)
THE AMERICANS:
Matt Fallon (DNQ for final)
Josh Matheny (DNQ for final)
Men’s 100m freestyle final
Perhaps the most unpredictable final of the night closes the show in the men’s 100m freestyle.
200m free Olympic champion David Popovici will go for his second gold of the Paris Games, but to do so, he’ll have to beat the man who overtook his world record in the event, China’s Pan Zhanle, as well as Rio gold medalist Kyle Chalmers of Australia.
Tokyo gold medalist Caeleb Dressel missed out on this event at U.S. Trials thanks to breakout swims from Chris Guiliano and Jack Alexy. Both Americans made the Olympic final, but will have to up their pace to reach the podium.
MEDAL FAVORITES:
David Popovici (ROU)
Pan Zhanle (CHN)
Kyle Chalmers (AUS)
THE AMERICANS:
Chris Guiliano
Jack Alexy
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