Caeleb Dressel tallied his second gold medal of the 2020 Olympics Wednesday night when he won the 100-meter freestyle, his first individual victory of the Tokyo Games.
The former Gator sat atop the podium with a new Olympic record of 47.02 seconds, 0.06 seconds ahead of Australia’s silver medalist Kyle Chalmers. Dressel won the world title in the event in 2017 and 2019.
Dressel used his lanky form and strong dive for a 0.60 reaction time to take advantage of the first 20 meters and assume command of the race.
As the race neared the end, however, Chalmers drew closer and closer two lanes over. Dressel’s lead shrunk, but he stretched out and reached the wall just in time to fend off the Australian.
“It’s a really tough year,” Dressel told NBC after the race. “It really came together, so I’m happy.”
Dressel also ranked first in the semifinal Tuesday night with a 47.23 time.
Dressel earned his first medal when he helped the US win the 4x100 freestyle relay Sunday
The remaining events for the 2020 Olympics can be found here
Contact Faith Buckley at fbuckley@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @_faithbuckley.
Faith is a third-year journalism student specializing in sports media. She hopes to one day work as a play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League.
