It was a golden night for swimming in Northern Ireland, as Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen and Great Britain’s Jack McMillan both won Olympic titles in Paris.
The double joy ended Northern Ireland’s 36-year wait for a gold medal at the Summer Games, while Wiffen became the first individual athlete from these shores to win an Olympic title since Lady Mary Peters won Pentathlon gold in Munich 52 years ago.
The Magheralin man stormed to victory in the 800m Freestyle Final with a new Olympic Record time of 7:38.19, just 0.56 ahead of silver medallist American Bobby Finke. Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri took the bronze medal.
Daniel Wiffen on the podium after winning gold
After the race he said: “I was so nervous, that’s the most nervous I’ve ever been for a race.
“I’m not going to lie, there’s this whole saying going around that I’m getting ‘Finked’ — I’m glad to say I haven’t been ‘Finked” so obviously pretty happy to get my hand on the wall first.
“It feels incredible. Andrew Bree said it just as I want to say it — ‘lights, camera, action’ – that’s exactly what I did — I’m writing myself into the history books!”
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Wiffen has a realistic chance of winning a second medal this weekend. He will compete in the heats of the 1500m on Saturday morning, with the final set for 5.36pm on Sunday evening. He is also the current World Champion over that distance.
Just one hour after Wiffen became only the fourth athlete from Northern Ireland to win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics, close friend McMillan became the fifth.
Jack McMillan won gold with Team GB’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay team
The Great Britain and Northern Ireland 4x200m Freestyle team retained their Olympic title with an electrifying performance in a thrilling Final. Silver went to the USA with Australia claiming bronze.
Belfast man McMillan did not race in the Final, with Tom Dean, Matt Richards, Duncan Scott and James steering Team GB to victory in a time of 6:59.43.
However, McMillan and fellow replacement Kieran Bird will both receive a gold medal as they competed in yesterday’s heat.