PARIS (Reuters) - Cameron McEvoy wrote his name on the list of Olympic champions at the Paris Games on Friday as the first Australian man to win swimming's fastest race, the 50 metres freestyle "splash and dash".
Britain's Ben Proud took the silver -- his first Olympic medal -- and France's Florent Manaudou the bronze, 12 years after he won gold in the event at London 2012.
On a night of triumph for swimming's older generation, McEvoy took his first Olympic title at the age of 30 and Proud his first Olympic medal at 29, while Manaudou continued to deliver at 33 with his fifth medal in four Games.
"The crowd was extreme. I've never heard the crowd louder," said McEvoy of the atmosphere in an arena converted from a rugby stadium - and sounding like one.
"The crowd was extreme. I've never heard the crowd louder," said McEvoy of the atmosphere in an arena converted from a rugby stadium - and sounding like one.
"I could be performing better, I'm not," Dressel said. "I train to go faster than the times I'm going, I know that, so yeah, it's tough, a little heartbreaking for sure."
If golden hero Leon Marchand's later race was top of the bill, Manaudou was greeted with chants of "Florent, Florent" as he stepped on to the pool deck.
McEvoy, three times a bronze medallist from Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, shut out the noise to make sure of gold with a time of 21.25 seconds.
Proud, whose only race is the 50 free, touched out 0.05 later and Manaudou, who shares a coach with the Briton, finished 0.31 slower.
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