'This one is emotional': Aussie Elijah Winnington storms home in final lap to claim 400m freestyle silver
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Elijah Winnington claimed Australia's first medal of the pool at Paris 2024, but fell agonisingly short of a gold medal in the men's 400m freestyle.
The Queenslander said his silver medal was an "emotional" achievement, having felt like he never deserved the bronze medal he took home from Tokyo after appearing in a relay heat.
Winnington finished about half a second off the time posted by German favourite Lukas Martens, while fellow Aussie Sam Short missed the podium by just 0.14 seconds.
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Elijah Winnington won Australia's first medal in the pool at Paris 2024 – silver in the men's 400m freestyle. AP Photo/Petr David Josek
Much like Ariarne Titmus when she claimed gold in the women's race, Martens led after every single lap, but Winnington had to come from outside the podium positions to take silver.
He spent most of the first half of the race in third but turned for the last 50 in fourth place, only to put in a stirring final lap to pip Korean Kim Woo-min for the silver.
"This one is an emotional one for me, coming off the back of Tokyo," Winnington said.
"I was in the same lane, same result and I touched seventh there. To get second here is a massive achievement.
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"I was fortunate enough to get a bronze medal in the heat of a relay in Tokyo but I actually never really felt like I deserved it and I've never even opened up the medal box because I wanted the first Olympic medal that I achieved to be one that I felt like I earned.
"So to get this silver draped around my neck tonight meant a lot to me."
Winnington paid tribute to his coach, Dean Boxall, for some unusual advice that helped him reach the podium: pretend it's Disneyland.
Lukas Martens was too good for the rest of the field, taking gold ahead of Winnington. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
"Disneyland is one of my favourite places in the world," Winnington said.
"Everyone is happy in Disneyland."
Winnington's teammate Short, though, was unable to pull off a similar late surge, falling from third at the final turn to come agonisingly short of a first Olympic medal.
It was nonetheless the start of a phenomenal first night in the pool for Australia, with Winnington contributing to a haul of four medals to kick off Paris 2024 – golds to Titmus and the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team, while the men's relay team also snagged silver.
That effort, combined with Grace Harris' win in the women's road cycling time trial, was enough to put Australia at the top of the medal tally at the end of day one.
