Caeleb Dressel Gives His Medal in a Heartwarming Moment at US Olympic Trials

Caeleb Dressel embraced his string of successes after a significant achievement at the Lucas Oil Stadium. Before the 50m free event final, Dressel had a lot at stake. He needed to qualify to defend his 50m free Olympic title in Paris, especially since his 100m free title defense wasn’t in the cards. These pressures drove him to finish the 50m free event in just 21.41 seconds, defeating Chris Giuliano and Jack Alexy. This victory secured his first individual event ticket for the Paris Olympics. After the medal ceremony, Caeleb shared a heartfelt moment with his fans.

Just after the 50m free medal ceremony, the seven-time Olympic champion walked to the audience as he beamed with happiness. As a part of that emotional affair, he gifted his gold-plated medal to a little fan. Next, he took a few more and presented his flower bouquet to a cheering fan. The entire scenario has surely found a deep place among the attendees. Meanwhile, after distributing the souvenirs, Caeleb Dressel left the place with a satisfactory smile on his face. For him, the entire day became an emotional rundown.

After defending his place in the relay team on the previous day, today the onus was on him to firm his place in the individual events. Both 50m free and 100m butterfly events remained at the stake. In such a needful situation, Caeleb Dressel found his family on the stands, wearing customized t-shirts and cheering for him all along. Caeleb Dressel replied to them accordingly. 

After securing his 50m free ticket, he appeared in the pool to make things by his side in the 100m butterfly semifinal event. He ultimately did. 40 minutes after making it into his first individual event for the Paris Olympics, Caeleb Dressel claimed the top position in the semis of the 100m butterfly event (51.14 seconds). Now the final of the event will be on June 22. Again, a lot of things will be at stake. However, for the man of the hour himself, certain factors have helped him in not giving up. 

Caeleb Dressel rejoices in the love received from his near and dear ones 

In the post-Tokyo Olympics duration, Caeleb Dressel has gone through several patches and some of them left him devastated. Last year in the World Aquatics Championships trials, he remained far behind from earning a place in the national squad. Then he discovered that his body and mind were not in sync.

The situation overwhelmed him, doubting his every ability. Later, he explained, “It wasn’t just one thing where I was like I need to step away, it was a bunch of things that kind of came crumbling down at once and I knew that was my red flag right there, multiple red flags, there was a giant red flag.” But a lot of things have changed after his son came to this world. Since his son’s birth, Caeleb Dressel has eyed only one thing – to make his kid witness his Olympic journey. 

Surely his son is watching him every day in the Lucas Oil Stadium, huddling to earn an Olympic ticket. Today, as well, the adorable kid was all along there on his mother’s lap. Such a connection has surely egged him on to give it his all going forward. Now, Caeleb Dressel is looking to utilize this synergy to enter his third Olympics.