{"id":620012,"date":"2025-08-03T06:16:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T13:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=620012"},"modified":"2025-08-03T06:49:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T13:49:26","slug":"world-championships-day-eight-finals-neutral-athletes-russia-fire-european-record-in-400-medley-relay-france-and-usa-reach-podium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-eight-finals-neutral-athletes-russia-fire-european-record-in-400-medley-relay-france-and-usa-reach-podium\/","title":{"rendered":"World Championships, Day Eight Finals: Neutral Athletes (Russia) Fire European Record in 400 Medley Relay; France and USA Reach Podium"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Championships, Day Eight Finals: Neutral Athletes (Russia) Fire European Record in 400 Medley Relay; France and USA Reach Podium<\/strong><\/p>\n

Officially, history will show the champion of the men’s 400-meter medley relay at the World Championships as the Neutral Athletes B squad. That name is a moniker for Russia, and the nation certainly capped its return to international competition in grand fashion in Singapore.<\/p>\n

Behind the contingent of Miron Lifintsev<\/strong>, Kirill Prigoda<\/strong>, Andrei Minakov<\/strong> and Egor Kornev<\/strong>, Russia blazed to a European record of 3:26.93. The effort is the second-fastest time in history, just off the United States’ world record of 3:26.78, and handed Russia victory over France (3:27.96). The bronze medal went to Team USA (3:28.62), which clipped Italy (3:28.72) on the strength of Jack Alexy’s<\/strong> anchor leg.<\/p>\n

Due to its invasion of and war on Ukraine, Russia has been bannd from the global stage since the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. This summer, however, World Aquatics opened the door for Russian athletes to compete, albeit under a Neutral Athletes flag. The Russians – whether one agrees with their presence or not – took advantage of the invitation, finishing the meet with eight medals – three gold, four silvers and a bronze.<\/p>\n

Lifintsev opened with a backstroke split of 52.44, which put NAB in third place, behind Italy and France. A split of 57.92 on breaststroke from Prigoda lifted Russia into second place and Minakov remained in that position with a butterfly leg of 50.17. On the freestyle anchor, Kornev took over the lead and never relinquished that edge, his split of 46.40 the second-fastest in the field.<\/p>\n

“You know, it’s a very special moment for us,” Minakov said. “We won the World (Short Course) Championships in December with the world record. So it’s the same four guys (who) set the same standard. We came here to win. We knew it was going to be a great rivalry. But you know, it’s always good to come out on top.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n