{"id":593358,"date":"2024-07-31T03:44:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T10:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=593358"},"modified":"2024-07-31T03:44:43","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T10:44:43","slug":"paris-olympics-u-s-mens-800-free-relay-turns-tokyo-disappointment-into-silver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/paris-olympics-u-s-mens-800-free-relay-turns-tokyo-disappointment-into-silver\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Olympics: U.S. Men\u2019s 800 Free Relay Turns Tokyo Disappointment into Silver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paris Olympics: U.S. Men\u2019s 800 Free Relay Turns Tokyo Disappointment into Silver<\/strong><\/p>\n

At first, Drew Kibler<\/strong> said, it was a source of \u201csadness and struggle.\u201d Eventually, it would transmute to motivation. At no point was it taboo.<\/p>\n

Kibler and Kieran Smith<\/strong> swam legs of the U.S. men\u2019s 800 free relay that did the unthinkable at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, finishing fourth and off the podium<\/a>. Neither ever ran from the ignominy of that result. And their embrace, they said Tuesday, went a long way to rectifying it with a silver medal three years later in Paris.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s something that we actually talked about a lot, since the very moment it happened,\u201d Kibler said. \u201cAnd it went from something that was, I don’t want to speak for everybody here, but it went from something that was a source of sadness and struggle to something that made us really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

The journey for Kibler and Smith that culminated in silver Tuesday night at Paris La Defense Arena should emerge as one of the stories of the Games for the U.S., even if it didn\u2019t lead to the podium\u2019s top step. The reason for that is a historic group of British swimmers, the same four that won gold in Tokyo three years ago and the first group of four individuals to win the same relay at two different Olympics.<\/p>\n