ANTERRE, France — American breaststroker Nic Fink finally won himself an Olympic medal, tying world record holder Adam Peaty of Great Britain for silver in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final Sunday night at Paris La Défense Arena.
In a stunningly close final on the second day of swimming competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi finished first for gold with a time of 59.03. Fink and Peaty — the 2016 and 2021 Olympic champion in the event — simultaneously hit the wall with 59.05 swims.
“With Adam, he’s a legend in the sport,” Fink said. “To share the podium with him, let alone the silver medal, it’s an awesome experience. And to see Nicolo there as well, it’s really fun.”
Fink, a 31-year-old two-time Olympian, advanced to the final ranked fourth, needing to drop a little time from his 59.16 semifinals swim Saturday. He shaved off .11 seconds to earn a spot on the Olympic podium in his only individual event in Paris.
“I was putting myself in a position to kind of be there at the 75, at the 80,” Fink explained. “Then just close your eyes and just make it home. I think the [qualifying] races were kind of strategic and that I was kind of saving a little bit and putting myself in a position to just advance in the next round.
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“Whereas this one, I wanted to put myself in a position to win, and I think it was evident that it was all right there, all really close.”
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Fink finished fifth in the 200-meter breaststroke, missing out on a medal.
“In Tokyo, I brought my podium sweats, and I didn’t get a chance to wear them,” he said. “And that’s not a fun feeling in the sport.
“So to place at all and to share medals, it’s all great. It doesn’t matter what medal I got and who I’m sharing it with, as long as I get to be up on the podium, bringing hardware to [Team] USA.”
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