LAST UPDATE | 30 Jul 2024
IRELAND’S DANIEL Wiffen has won a gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in the 800m freestyle.
The 23-year-old achieved the feat with a new Olympic record time of 7:38.19.
The Armagh swimmer took gold, with USA’s Bobby Finke (7:38.75) claiming silver and Gregorio Paltrinieri (7:39.38) of Italy earning bronze.
The top three pulled away from the other competitors towards the race’s climax.
Wiffen was in second and third position for long spells but finished strongly in the final 50m to secure a historic result.
The Irish star’s feat continues a fantastic week for Irish swimming, with Mona McSharry winning bronze in last night’s 100m Breaststroke final.
It is Ireland’s first gold medal in swimming since Michelle Smith at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine previously held the 800m freestyle Olympic record with a time of 7:41.28.
Wiffen’s previous 800m freestyle personal best was a national record of 07:39.19.
'What's my name? Daniel Wiffen, Olympic champion'
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 30, 2024
Daniel Wiffen speaks to @OFlynnPaul after winning gold for Ireland in the 800m freestyle in Paris #RTESport #Paris2024
📱Updates https://t.co/01ShZjM17C
📺 Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7 pic.twitter.com/Nat6iW90po
“Amazing. It’s really good, I can’t believe it,” Wiffen told RTÉ afterwards.
“Now I can say I’m one of the best ever.
“I was looking at Bobby Finke. I’d been practising the whole day for this, [saying] I will not get caught in the last 50.
“Keep watching, we’re not done this week.”
Finke, the reigning Olympic champion from Tokyo, was 0.78 seconds ahead of Wiffen with 100m to go, and the Irish star was still second — 0.10 seconds back — for the final length.
🥇for Ireland
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 30, 2024
Relive the last 50 metres as Daniel Wiffen became the ninth Irish athlete to win Olympic gold #RTESport #Paris2024
📱Updates https://t.co/01ShZjM17C
📺 Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7 pic.twitter.com/P8GSKycgKO
Paltrinieri, an Olympic silver medallist in Tokyo, was in contention throughout.
Tonight’s result continues an incredible year for Wiffen, a product of the Larne Swimming Club, who has been training and studying at Loughborough University since 2021.
2024 also saw the two-time Olympian become a double world champion in the 800m and 1500m.
Ireland are now 14th in the overall medals table.
Wiffen’s next event is in Heat 3 of the 1500m freestyle on Saturday, 3 August at approximately 11.05am, while he has also suggested he could do his first-ever marathon swim (10k) on Friday, 9 August at 6.30am.
Additional reporting by Niall Kelly
What a last 100 metres. Brilliant stuff.
@Ian Cunningham: brilliant for sure, I remember many moons ago thinking the same about another Irish swimmer M S de Brún, only hope that this isn’t history repeating itself.
@WqM9AAv3: Do one
@WqM9AAv3: educate yourself a bit about the guy typical response from someone who probably only watches the sport every 4 years
@WqM9AAv3: give over….Daniel did not come from no where like michelle in Atlanta, he was one of the favouties, world camp going in
@Kevin Bury: champ!!
@colin coady: so it’s a 100 % clean sport? No one ever takes anything they not supposed to, in order to enhance their performance? Educate myself. Russian swimmers, Chinese swimmers, American swimmers, Australian swimmers, Irish swimmers, British swimmers, loads of them all positive throughout the years and banned, medals taken away from them, countries banned from the sport etc etc. that’s just a very short synopsis of widespread use in the sport. There’s tonnes of articles online about it. Perhaps you meant to ask yourself to be the one educated
@orb7eckn: do a performance enhancing one? What one will I do Joe?
@WqM9AAv3: WTF, can you not just enjoy one of our own winning a gold? Seriously like…
@WqM9AAv3: one for your brain and another for your personality, both need a boost
@orb7eckn: as you see another you see yourself – Yeshua Christos
@Kevin Dillon: sorry I didn’t know he was a family member Kevin
@WqM9AAv3: Maybe you should follow your own advice and leave the remarks about a win being tainted.
@orb7eckn: I must be a doubting Thomas so
@WqM9AAv3: nah, just someone looking for attention
@orb7eckn: one who speaks his mind is an attention seeker. Wow
@WqM9AAv3: Very different swimmers. Dan is in his prime and has another Olympics at least in him. As far as I am concerned the 2 swimming medals this year are Irelands first olympic swimming medals. Michelle Smith married Erik de Bruin, a discus thrower and banned doping cheat, in the same year as her 4 medals (1996). He had been “coaching” her for 3 years leading up to the Olympics. She was at the end of her career and was not expected to medal but out of nowhere produced those 4 performances. Although she was never proven to have cheated in Atlanta she was banned 2 years later for tampering with a sample!!
Go on boy! Some last 100m to pass them out
Olympic Gold!!! You’re the man Daniel.
A phenomenal swim from Daniel. A worthy Olympic Champion.
I love being from a small nation during the Olympics. Most of the US medals get lost in their coverage. Here, moments like last night and tonight are rare and rightly celebrated to their fullest.
An rud is annamh is iontach.
What a week for Armagh
Hail.Hail
PROUD
What a race, outstanding …
We have just witnessed something so very special…we have a super star among us
Absolutely unreal. Incredible. So so proud for him
That was incredible!!!!
Amazing
Bravo sir.
Wow, so fantastic.
Great stuff.
Awesome. What a competitor. Utter class.
Wow unreal what a moment for irish sport
Mighty
Supreme Magnificent. Well done Daniel. Plus an olympic record.
Massive, excellent, very well done. And himself and the brother are still only 23
What a swim, what a champion. Fabulous.
Some former pros saying he will take the 1500 as well
@Daithi Mc Ghiollamhairtin: he will
BBC sport already claiming him as a northern Irish athlete and how great it is to see a British athlete win gold.
@Aaron Tynan: yeah I see that he’s from northern Ireland – no mention of him being Irish though!
@Aaron Tynan: He is from Northern Ireland… what is wrong with them being lroud of him too? I think its time we lose the chip on our shoulder. RTE claiming Siobhan Haughey as one of ours even though she lives and trains and swims under the flag of Hong Kong!! We love to claim former American Presidents or soccer players born and bred in England with very tenuous 3rd generation links!!
Listening to his interview this man is not done yet . You can feel the confidence he has in himself. More medals to come.
A massive congratulations Daniel !
A very underwhelming commentary I thought. Sometimes the commentary defines the moment. Some last 100 meters – deserved more of a crescendo in the coverage. Guy is so confident which is what winners are.
@JJB: The commentary was excellent.
@Pat Coady: your opinion – I thought it was poor. Leave it there ….
@JJB: I thought the commentary was very good. Not at levels of the track relay but it wasn’t poor.
Congrats Daniel- what a wonderfully controlled swim
So proud of you.
He’s class , should get gold in the 1500 too
Holy f**k what a swim! Unreal
Unreal athlete but not great in interviews, comes across way too arrogant…
@Tom: does he not have a right to be?
If I was the best in the world I’d be a cocky fecker as well
@Reggordon: did you ever hear tiger woods speak like that who is a far far superior athlete???
I don’t think so!!!
It’s doesn’t come across well!!
It’s a great athlete and I hope he gets gold again tbh….
@Tom: Tiger may be humble now, but he was one of the most arrogant when he was at his peak. It was part of his weaponry.
@Tom: It’s called confidence Tom. Muhammad Ali ! Was he confident or arrogant?
@Tom: top top sports people like this have no doubts that they are the best. It’s not the only reason they win but it’s one of the reasons. Any self doubt in that race, he’d have lost. Paul O’Donovan is the same
@Tom: honestly better than McSharry who was grateful to finish third even though she easily could have won based on her semi final experience. We need more athletes confident in their ability and not willing to settle for a silver or bronze
@Tom: Give over, small margins in elite level sport and you need to have confidence in your ability in situations where you for example could be sitting 3rd or 4th and have the confidence to sit with your plan and grind it out. I didn’t hear arrogance at all, just a confident athlete. Why do we as a nation always try to tear our heroes down. I was delighted he implied there is more to come from him.
@Tom: that man has a fantastic attitude. He didn’t bad mouth his opponents, he didn’t whoop it up but he’s obviously got serious belief in his ability, as you would if you were a double world champion & so far an Olympic champion in one discipline. I don’t see too many other champs going “aw shucks, shur I’m only thankful to be here”
@Tom: i like it… walks the walk….confident does not mean cocky or arrogant…. no shame in saying im the best…and u pull a gold medal out of the bag.
..easier thing is to say ive no chance. etc
@Owen ODonoghue: you’re being exceptionally harsh on mcsharry there. She’s been in a lot of finals & finished 4th or 5th. She swam a pb at the Olympics and medalled, that’s an unbelievable achievement. Going by the earlier heats the saffer always had her measure & it was nip and tuck between her and the Chinese swimmer
Fantastic
he is wold class
So proud to be an Irish family on foreign soil thank you Danial .. thank you Ireland ..
Daniel ‘The last 50′ Wiffen.
Reminds me of Michelle Smith.
@Ben F: scurrilous comment
@Ben F: wiffen winning was no surprise to anyone
@munsterman: Exactly, if anyone was following the guy they would know, but just people here treat this as an echo chamber as a pick me up for their own low self esteem
@Ben F: what a stupid comment
@Ben F: nothing like it….world champ going in
Fantastic achievement and still only at start of career. See another Irishman won gold as well in the swimming today, though was competing for team GB, but it should be mentioned.