Each Olympic cycle, there are new abilities that emerge from the bottom-up. On the 2024 Olympic Video games, it was swimmers like Leon Marchand and Summer time McIntosh — each swimmers didn’t attain the rostrum on the 2021 Olympic Video games, however received their first worldwide titles in 2022 and left Paris as essentially the most adorned female and male swimmers respectively. However past single-Video games glory are the swimmers who can medal and enhance throughout a number of Olympics.
Medaling individually in back-to-back Olympic Video games is a feat that’s simpler mentioned than finished. The proof is within the pudding — Caeleb Dressel and Emma McKeon, the 2 most adorned swimmers on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, left Paris with no single particular person medal. Although each swimmers are on the tail-ends of their careers (with McKeon retiring just lately), this stat merely goes to point out how onerous it’s to take care of a excessive stage throughout consecutive quads. Moreover, enhancing from one quad to the subsequent when one has already reached podium territory is even rarer.
On this article, we check out the trajectories of swimmers who medaled individually at each the Tokyo and Paris Olympic Video games, analyzing simply how extraordinary it’s to each medal and enhance in back-to-back Video games.
Observe: This text appears at pool swimming occasions solely.
Males
On the boys’s aspect, there have been 11 repeat Olympic particular person medalists out of the 33 particular person Paris medalists and 32 Tokyo medalists. Out of these ten medalists, six had been additionally medalists on the 2016 Olympic Video games (Florent Manaudou, Kyle Chalmers, Ryan Murphy, Adam Peaty, Gregorio Paltrinieri, Wang Shun). Manaudou is the one one of many group that medaled individually throughout 4 Olympics — 2012, 2016, 2021, and 2024.
Out of these 10 medalists, solely Nicolo Martinenghi (100 breast bronze in 2021, gold in 2024), Paltrinieri (1500 free fourth place in 2021, silver in 2024), and Kristof Milak (100 fly silver in 2021, gold in 2024) improved their putting in occasions that they medaled in throughout Tokyo or Paris. And solely two swimmers, Finke and Paltrinieri, improved their instances in occasions that they medalled in at both Video games.
It’s no coincidence that the 2 three youngest repeat medalists (Finke, Martinenghi and Milak) each “improved” their stage ultimately between Tokyo and Paris. However the 30-year-old Paltrinieri’s enhancements may very well be attributed to his basic longevity, a bout of mono affecting his instances in the course of the Tokyo Video games, and the boys’s distance swimming area getting sooner as an entire.
Finke, Paltrinieri, and Milak had been the one male swimmers who defended their Olympic medalists throughout a number of occasions.
It’s honest to say that Finke made the most important profession leap out of all the boys’s repeat particular person medalists between Tokyo and Paris. Though he was a extra adorned swimmer in Tokyo, he was a shock double-victor within the distance occasions, racing in fields that produced significantly slower instances than earlier massive meets. In Paris, he was 3.12 seconds sooner than Tokyo within the 800 free and 9.28 seconds sooner within the 1500. He additionally took down Solar Yang‘s 12-year-old world report within the 1500 free, a feat that no one would have anticipated him to tug off in Tokyo.
Listing Of Particular person Medalists At Each The Tokyo And Paris Olympic Video games (Male):
| Swimmer | Age | Nationality | Paris 2024 Outcomes | Tokyo 2021 Outcomes | Different Olympic-Medalling Performances |
| Florent Manaudou | 33 | France | 50 free bronze (21.56) | 50 free silver (21.55) | 50 free silver (2016), 50 free gold (2012) |
| Gregorio Paltrinieri | 30 | Italy | 800 free bronze (7:39.38), 1500 free silver (14:34.55) | 800 free silver (7:42.11), 1500 free fourth place (14:45.01) | 1500 free gold (2016) |
| Wang Shun | 30 | China | 200 IM bronze (1:56.00) | 200 IM gold (1:55.00) | 200 IM bronze (2016) |
| Adam Peaty | 29 | Nice Britain | 100 breast silver (59.05) | 100 breast gold (57.57) | 100 breast gold (2016) |
| Ryan Murphy | 29 | United States | 100 again bronze (52.39), 200 again tenth place (1:56.62) | 100 again bronze (52.19), 200 again silver (1:54.15) | 100 again gold (2016), 200 again gold (2016) |
| Duncan Scott | 27 | Nice Britain | 200 IM silver (1:55.31) | 200 IM silver (1:55.28), 200 free silver (1:44.26) | |
| Kyle Chalmers | 26 | Australia | 100 free silver (47.48) | 100 free silver (47.08) | 100 free gold (2016) |
| Zac Stubblety-Cook dinner | 25 | Australia | 200 breast silver (2:06.79) | 200 breast gold (2:06.38) | N/A |
| Nicolo Martinenghi | 25 | Italy | 100 breast gold (59.03) | 100 breast bronze (58.33) | N/A |
| Bobby Finke | 24 | United States | 800 free silver (7:38.75), 1500 free gold (14:30.67) | 800 free gold (7:41.97), 1500 free gold (14:39.65) | N/A |
| Kristof Milak | 24 | Hungary | 100 fly gold (49.90), 200 fly silver (1:51.75) | 100 fly silver (49.68), 200 fly gold (1:51.25) | N/A |
Girls
There have been 11 repeat particular person Olympic medalists on the ladies’s aspect, out of 25 totally different Paris particular person medalists and 27 Tokyo medalists. Solely three of these 11 medalled on the Rio Olympics as properly (Sarah Sjostrom, Katie Ledecky and Kylie Masse), and Ledecky was the one one which medaled throughout 4 Olympics spanning from 2012 and 2024.
Much less three-time medalists within the “repeat medalists” membership in comparison with the boys can most likely be attributed to the common age of the ladies’s group (25.2) being two years lower than the boys’s group (27.5).
Sjostrom (50 free silver in 2021, gold in 2024; 100 free fifth place in 2021, gold in 2024), Regan Smith (100 again bronze in 2021, silver in 2024), Tatjana Smith (100 breast silver in 2021, gold in 2024) and Kate Douglass (200 IM bronze in 2021, silver in 2024) all improved their putting in an occasion they medaled in throughout Tokyo or Paris. Sjostrom, Ledecky, Kaylee McKeown, Regan Smith, Douglass, and Ariarne Titmus improved their instances in a medaling occasion — with the previous 4 doing so throughout a number of occasions.
As two of the older within the repeat medalist membership, Sjostrom and Ledecky being two of the 4 swimmers to get sooner throughout a number of occasions from Tokyo to Paris goes to point out why they’re two of the best to ever do it. As well as, it’s additionally price nothing that Sjostrom suffered an elbow harm in early 2021 that would have hindered her Tokyo efficiency.
Out of all of the repeat medalists, there have been 4 swimmers (Smith, Douglass, McKeown, Zhang Yufei) who medaled in occasions that they didn’t race the finals of throughout Tokyo — one thing that didn’t occur on the boys’s aspect. 9 of the 11 additionally defended their Olympic medalists throughout a number of occasions, with McKeown and Ledecky defending a number of gold medals.
The “most improved repeat medalist” distinction must go to Douglass, who turned an entire totally different swimmer post-Tokyo. In 2021, she barely scraped by to podium in a traditionally weak 200 IM race. Three years later, she improved her time by over two seconds to take silver (in a time that might have received gold in 2021). She additionally received Paris gold within the 200 breast, an occasion she didn’t even swim at 2021 U.S. Olympic trials. So as to add on, the Tokyo model of Douglass was a relay non-factor, however she raced on two Staff USA relays throughout Paris.
Listing Of Particular person Medalists At Each The Tokyo And Paris Olympic Video games (Feminine):
| Swimmer | Age | Nationality | Paris 2024 Outcomes | Tokyo 2021 Outcomes | Different Olympic-Medalling Performances |
| Sarah Sjostrom | 31 | Sweden | 50 free gold (23.71), 100 free gold (52.16) | 50 free silver (24.07), 100 free fifth place (52.68), 100 fly seventh place (56.91) | 100 fly gold (2016), 100 free bronze (2016), 200 free silver (2016) |
| Kylie Masse | 28 | Canada | 100 again fourth place (58.29), 200 again bronze (2:05.57) | 100 again silver (57.72), 200 again silver (2:05.42) | 100 again bronze (2016) |
| Katie Ledecky | 27 | United States | 400 free bronze (4:00.86), 800 free gold (8:11.04), 1500 free (15:30.o2) | 200 free fifth place (1:55.21) 400 free silver (3:57.36), 800 free gold (8:12.57), 1500 free (15:37.34) | 800 free gold (2012, 2016), 400 free gold (2016), 200 free gold (2016) |
| Tatjana Smith | 27 | South Africa | 100 breast gold (1:05.28), 200 breast silver (2:19.60) | 100 breast silver (1:05.22), 200 breast gold (2:18.95) | N/A |
| Zhang Yufei | 26 | China | 50 free bronze (24.20), 100 fly bronze (56.21), 200 fly bronze (2:05.09) | 100 fly silver (55.63), 200 fly gold (2:03.86) | N/A |
| Siobhan Haughey | 26 | Hong Kong | 100 free bronze (52.33), 200 free bronze (1:54.55) | 100 free silver (52.26), 200 free silver (1:53.92) | N/A |
| Ariarne Titmus | 24 | Australia | 200 free silver (1:53.81), 400 free gold (3:57.49), 800 free silver (8:12.29) | 200 free gold (1:53.50), 400 free gold (3:56.69), 800 free silver (8:13.83) | N/A |
| Kaylee McKeown | 23 | Australia | 100 again gold (57.33), 200 again gold (2:03.73), 200 IM bronze (2:08.08) | 100 again gold (57.47), 200 again gold (2:04.68) | N/A |
| Kate Douglass | 22 | United States | 200 breast gold (2:19.24), 200 IM silver (2:06.92) | 200 IM bronze (2:09.04) | N/A |
| Regan Smith | 22 | United States | 100 again silver (57.66), 200 again silver (2:04.26), 200 fly silver (2:03.84) | 100 again bronze (58.05), 200 fly (2:05.30) | N/A |
| Emma Weyant | 22 | United States | 400 IM bronze (4:34.90) | 400 IM silver (4:32.76) | N/A |
Conclusion
So what can we take from these outcomes? For one, it proves that we mentioned above — that it’s onerous to defend an Olympic medal, and that it’s onerous to enhance as a reigning Olympic medalist from one quad to a different. Those that pulled off the latter had been both nonetheless within the rising phases of their profession, are an all-time nice, or confronted some kind of impediment in Tokyo (like Paltrinieri and Sjostrom) that prevented them from reaching their full potential. Secondly, the disparity between female and male swimmers within the repeat medal membership goes to point out that whereas extra of the 2016-era males are nonetheless competing at a excessive stage, there are at the moment extra feminine swimmers which are multi-medal threats.
Sure, the Olympics aren’t every little thing when it comes to measuring a swimmer’s enchancment between quads. For instance, though Titmus’s particular person instances from Tokyo to Paris acquired slower within the 200 and 400 free, her private finest instances acquired significantly sooner in comparison with 2021. However taking a look at medal instances throughout each Video games continues to be a great way of gauging those that have maintained kind all through the years. And people who do are amongst essentially the most spectacular within the sport.