Mobile’s Paige Madden won another silver medal in the women’s 4-by-200-meter freestyle relay on Thursday at the Paris Olympics.
Madden swam the second leg for the United States, which came home second to Australia in the race for the gold medal. Australia turned in an Olympic-record time of 7 minutes, 38.08 seconds to finish 2.78 seconds ahead of the United States. The United States finished 1.48 seconds ahead of bronze-medalist China.
Madden swam her leg in 1:55.65 to put United States third halfway through the race. U.S. third-leg swimmer Katie Ledecky cut Australia’s lead to 0.33 seconds entering the final swimmer, but Australia’s Ariane Titmus swam the fastest leg of the race – 1:52.95 – to pull away.
Madden also won a silver medal in the women’s 4-by-200-meter freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics. In that race, the United States finished second to China by 0.4 seconds even though its four swimmers set a U.S. record for the event at 7:40.73.
On Saturday, Madden finished sixth in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. On Friday, Madden will swim in the heats for the women’s 800-meter freestyle.
A City of Mobile Swim Association alumnus, Madden set seven Alabama High School Athletic Association records and was an 11-time state champion at UMS-Wright in the Port City.
At Virginia, Madden was a four-time NCAA champion.
Silver medalists Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, Katie Ledecky and Erin Gemmell of the United States pose after the medal ceremony for the women’s 4-by-200-meter freestyle relay at the Summer Olympics on Aug. 1, 2024, in Nanterre, France. Getty Images
Also at Paris La Defense Arena on Tuesday, two former Alabama swimmers competed in the men’s 50-meter freestyle.
During qualifying, Malta’s Kyle Micallef finished second in the fifth heat and Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev finished fourth in the 10th heat. But Gkolomeev advanced to the semifinals in the event while Micallef did not.
Gkolomeev had one of the 16 fastest times among the 70 swimmers in the heat races at 21.86 seconds. Micallef’s time of 22.89 seconds didn’t make the cut.
In the semifinal, Gkolomeev swam 21.62 seconds to finish fourth in the first race. That was the seventh-fastest in the semifinals, putting Gkolomeev into the medal race on Friday.
Suni Lee of the United States performs on the uneven bars in the women’s artistic gymnastics all-around competition at the Summer Olympics on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at Bercy Arena in Paris.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
On Thursday at Bercy Arena in Paris, Auburn alumnus Suni Lee became the first gymnast to earn medals in back-to-back Olympics in the women’s all-around competition since Nadia Comaneci won gold in 1976 and silver in 1980.
After winning the gold medal in the women’s all-around at the Tokyo Olympics, Lee got the bronze medal in Paris.
Lee’s United States teammate, Simone Biles, won the women’s all-around for the second time after capturing the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Games.
Biles won with 59.131 points across the four events, with Lee at 56.465. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade got the silver medal between the Americans with 57.932. That’s the same order that topped qualifying on Sunday.
Lee posted a score of 13.933 in the vault, 14.86 on the uneven bars, 14.000 on the balance beam and 13.666 in the floor exercise.
Lee and Biles helped the United States win the women’s team gold in artistic gymnastics on Tuesday.
Lee has two more medal opportunities. She will compete in the women’s uneven-bars finals on Sunday and women’s balance-beam finals on Monday. Lee won the bronze medal on the uneven bars at the Tokyo Olympics.
Alabama alumnus Luisa Blanco finished 23rd in the women’s all-around. The first competitor from Colombia to reach the women’s all-around finals, Blanco had a 13.500 in the vault, 11.133 on the balance beam, 12.866 on the uneven bars and 12.700 in the floor exercise for a 50.199 score.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
