First Man to Win Gold, Bobby Finke Saves America From Reviving 120-Year-Old Curse at Paris Olympics

Caeleb Dressel had it, but his sixth-place finish at the men’s 50m free couldn’t help the cause. Ryan Murphy also had it. But in the 200m back, he satisfied himself with the bronze medal. So ultimately, the responsibility went to Bobby Finke to break the jinx. On the penultimate day, the 24-year-old displayed why Katie Ledecky counts him as the best training mate she could ever have. 

Today, in the men’s 1500m free event at the Paris Olympics, Bobby Finke claimed the gold medal, breaking the world record (14:30.67). With that, he has also become the first American male swimmer to grab the top individual podium. His victory also set an American record at the time—winning at least one individual gold medal in men’s swimming at the Olympics. The wheel of winning races in the pool has been rolling since the 1904 Olympics. Only at the 1980 Moscow Olympics did the wheel stop for a while because Team USA boycotted the occasion. However, this time, the fans had to wait for eight long days to witness an American male swimmer take the glory home. He did it in style, though!

Throughout the race, Bobby Finke maintained his supremacy. For a single ounce of a second, he didn’t lose momentum. He must have remembered his race 3 days ago at the same venue. During the men’s 800m free final, the Gators’ swimmer momentarily lost control, giving Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen an opportunity. In the end, Bobby had to settle for the silver, whereas Wiffen remained on top of the podium, hanging the gold medal around his neck. Yet, nobody might have expected that a Florida native would show up in this raging mood.

In the record-breaking performance today, Bobby Finke decimated Sun Yang’s world record, set 12 years ago. Meanwhile, his hardware added to the 8th gold in swimming in Team USA’s cabinet this time. Somehow, the victory had been expected, especially after Katie Ledecky’s certificate to him.

Katie Ledecky finds just one percent gap in Bobby Finke’s performance 

For the last several seasons at the University of Florida, both Katie Ledecky and Bobby Finke concentrated on honing their specialties under the tutelage of Anthony Nesty. Therefore, their training schedules coincided with each other. That ultimately profited the duo, as Katie’s strict routine found a perfect follower in Bobby. An example is their joint swimming at the pool, which did not stop even during the Christmas vacation. The grueling competition in the water was tiring for the mind and body. But it led Bobby to say, “Katie is a beast in practice.” For the legend, the realization was slightly different.

In the pool competition with Bobby, Katie tried to overpower him. The experience found the best narration in her words when she said, “Ninety-nine percent of the time Bobby is killing me. I find that one percent every now and then and have a good day where I can sneak ahead of him.” That was the certificate for Bobby Finke. Today, he received the outcome of it.