DANIEL WIFFEN HAS taken bronze in the men’s 1500 freestyle final at the Paris Olympics.
Wiffen’s medal brings Ireland’s tally at these Games to seven, the country’s best-ever Olympic return.
Wiffen finished third La Défense Arena to America’s Bobby Finke, who broke the world record, and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri.
Finke, who lost his Olympic 800m title to Wiffen last Tuesday, finished almost nine seconds ahead of the Irishman as he stormed to a historic 1500m triumph.
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His world-record time of 14:30:67 was enough to leave clear water between him and Italy’s Paltrinieri (14:34:55), while Wiffen’s challenge from third never truly got going as he was forced to hold off Hungary’s David Bethlehem for bronze in a time of 14:39:63.
Wiffen congratulates champion Bobby Finke. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Wiffen, 23, had been a heavy favourite to add 1500m gold to his earlier 800m success but Finke set a blistering pace and led from pillar to post.
“Right now, I’m happy but disappointed at the same time,” Wiffen told RTÉ after adding bronze to Tuesday’s gold.
“Looking across from the week, I can’t please more, being an Olympic champion, but the bronze medal, y’know… I know I came into this happy with any medal but when you hit gold in the first race, you can’t do a lot less than that.
“But I’m happy. Y’know, we never had a medal before this competition for men, and to come away with two, I’m very happy.”
Wiffen said that Paltrinieri had initially obscured his view of leader Finke, and by the time he spotted the American he knew he was in for a “painful race”.
“I did try and dig deep to try and push it but I just didn’t have enough today.
“I couldn’t dream of anything better,” Wiffen added, reflecting on his efforts across both 800m and 1500m events. “To be an Olympic champion is a dream come true. I did have my sights set on a world record but today wasn’t the day.
“Well done to Bobby — he did class to get a world record. We’ll be back better next time.
“Today’s race didn’t go my way but who cares? I’m still an Olympic champion.”
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Daniel Wiffen claims bronze in 1500m freestyle final
DANIEL WIFFEN HAS taken bronze in the men’s 1500 freestyle final at the Paris Olympics.
Wiffen’s medal brings Ireland’s tally at these Games to seven, the country’s best-ever Olympic return.
Wiffen finished third La Défense Arena to America’s Bobby Finke, who broke the world record, and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri.
Finke, who lost his Olympic 800m title to Wiffen last Tuesday, finished almost nine seconds ahead of the Irishman as he stormed to a historic 1500m triumph.
His world-record time of 14:30:67 was enough to leave clear water between him and Italy’s Paltrinieri (14:34:55), while Wiffen’s challenge from third never truly got going as he was forced to hold off Hungary’s David Bethlehem for bronze in a time of 14:39:63.
Wiffen, 23, had been a heavy favourite to add 1500m gold to his earlier 800m success but Finke set a blistering pace and led from pillar to post.
“Right now, I’m happy but disappointed at the same time,” Wiffen told RTÉ after adding bronze to Tuesday’s gold.
“Looking across from the week, I can’t please more, being an Olympic champion, but the bronze medal, y’know… I know I came into this happy with any medal but when you hit gold in the first race, you can’t do a lot less than that.
“But I’m happy. Y’know, we never had a medal before this competition for men, and to come away with two, I’m very happy.”
Wiffen said that Paltrinieri had initially obscured his view of leader Finke, and by the time he spotted the American he knew he was in for a “painful race”.
“I did try and dig deep to try and push it but I just didn’t have enough today.
“I couldn’t dream of anything better,” Wiffen added, reflecting on his efforts across both 800m and 1500m events. “To be an Olympic champion is a dream come true. I did have my sights set on a world record but today wasn’t the day.
“Well done to Bobby — he did class to get a world record. We’ll be back better next time.
“Today’s race didn’t go my way but who cares? I’m still an Olympic champion.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
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