Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen snatched victory in the final stretch of the men's 800 freestyle final to take gold in Paris late Tuesday in an Olympic record time.
Second going into the final 150m of the race, Wiffen swam past Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri to win in a time of 7:38.19.
The 23-year-old Armagh native went into the Olympics with high expectations having won both the 800 and 1500m titles at World Aquatics Championships in February in Doha.
However, leading rivals did not compete six months ago, notably the USA’s Robert Finke, who was second in Tuesday’s final, after Paltrinieri fell back to the bronze medal position in third.
The dual world gold medalist told RTE before the Olympics that he had been working on improvements, including a new breathing technique. “You’re going to see a new Daniel Wiffen in Paris.”
