Tokyo: The focus may be on Americans and Australians but it could be the sports where Russian swimmers make their biggest splash in the men’s events in 25 years.
No Russian man has won swimming gold at the Olympics since the Atlanta Games in 1996, when Alexander Popov and Denis Pankratov both topped the podium twice.
But if this continues, it will be a great disappointment for the Russians.
Russia’s best chance to break its barren spell is in the 200m backstroke where Evgeny Rylov is the favorite to defeat US defending champion Ryan Murphy.
Rylov has beaten Murphy in the last two World Championships and is the five fastest swimmers in the history of the event.
The 24-year-old posted his fastest time, 1:53.23, at the Russian Olympic Trials in April, nearly a full second ahead of Murphy’s top time this year.
In the 200m breaststroke, Anton Chupkov is the world record holder, setting a 2:06.12 at the 2019 World Championships and while he will have to stop exciting Japanese swimmer Shoma Sato and Australian Zack Stubby-Cook, he will be disappointed if he does. . Will not give gold this time.
The 100m freestyle is billed as a fight between American favorite Caleb Dressel and defending champion Kyle Chalmers of Australia, but Russia has four of the top 10 in the world this year with young talents Andrei Minakov and Kliment Kolesnikov both There are podium hopes.
European champion Kolesnikov has the second-fastest time in the world this season with 47:31 and has also snuffed out the 100m backstroke.
The 21-year-old has been hailed as a future Olympic champion since winning the backstroke double at the European Championships and then winning six gold medals and a silver at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
While Paris 2024 may be the game when he really works to that potential, Kolesnikov has a quiet belief that his opponents will take note.
Along with his duties in relay events, where Russia’s newfound strength in the depths also gives him a real chance at gold, especially in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle, Kolesnikov has a busy schedule in Japan.
But usually they shy away from getting too much work done.
“I don’t think it’s a problem. Unlike the European Championships, none of my races in the Olympics will be close to each other, so logically there will be no challenge for me. I will be ready to race.”
It will be the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) should it win any of the country’s swimming hopes next week after the country was stripped of its flag and anthem for doping offenses. But after waiting a quarter century – few Russians will care about such details.
Disclaimer: This post has been self-published from the agency feed without modification and has not been reviewed by an editor
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