Olympic gold for David Popovici
David Popovici wins Romania’s first medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
Florin Orban, 30.07.2024, 14:00
The Romanian swimmer David Popovici is the new Olympic champion in the men’s 200 m freestyle race. On Monday, he won Romania’s first medal at this year’s Games and its first ever in men’s swimming. Only Romania’s female swimmers had won Olympic medals before, namely in 2000, in Sydney, thanks to Diana Mocanu, in the 100 and 200 m backstroke, and again in 2004, in Athens, thanks to Camelia Potec, in the 200 m freestyle.
In the Paris final, Popovici was the favourite from the start. He had the best result of the season and had clocked the best time in the semifinals. The final, however, was a more balanced affair than initially expected. Germany’s Lukas Maertens, the Olympic champion in the 400 m race, had a strong start, but halfway through the race, he slowed down and things became more balanced. The American swimmer Luke Hobson and Britain’s Matthew Richards and Duncan Scott all looked like they could win the race, but the eventual winner was David Popovici. This is what he told exclusively to Radio Romania:
“It was a very close finish. Just like, three years ago, I was 0.02 seconds away from the bronze medal, the swimmer who finished in second place this time was 0.02 seconds behind me. Congrats to everyone who made it into the final and everyone who qualified. I would like to thank to the people in Romania who have always supported me. I also want to thank those who did not believe in me, for without them, I would not be here. After the 100 m race and after the holiday I will have time to truly enjoy what just happened.”
Aged only 19, David Popovici now has to his record the only medal he was missing: the Olympic medal. He has so far won two world titles, in Budapest, in 2022, and five European titles: in Kazan in 2021, two in Rome in 2022 and another two in Belgrade this year. His next challenge is the 100 m freestyle race, whose final is taking place on Wednesday evening. Popovici beat the world record in this race at the 2022 European Championships in Rome, when he finished in 46.86 seconds, breaking a 13-year-old record held by Cesar Cielo Filho of Brazil. At the world championships in Doha this year, China’s Pan Zhanle improved on Popovici’s record by 0.06 seconds. If David Popovici wins the gold in the 100 m freestyle race, Romania would go up in the medal ranking for the Paris Olympics, which on Monday it entered in 15th place.
