Torri Huske beat her American teammate and world record holder Gretchen Walsh by 0.04 seconds to win gold in the women’s 100-meter butterfly in a spectacular race on Sunday.
“I feel like I’m in shock, like I don’t even know how to process it, like I’m crying, but I’m also laughing,” Huske said after the race.
The 2022 world champion tapped out in 55.59 to secure the US’s first individual gold of the 2024 Games – the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team had won gold on Saturday night – with Walsh taking silver in 55.63 after leading the turn at a world-record pace. China’s Zhang Yufei took bronze.
“My first 50 felt really good, and then I worked really hard on my second 50, especially after I had a weak finish last year, and I kind of died in my race, and like in the previous Olympics, I lost everything in the last 50,” she said. “So I really wanted to have a good, strong last 50.”
The gold was a rich reward for Huske, who missed out on a butterfly medal in the same event in Tokyo three years ago by just 0.01 seconds, and she took victory on Sunday with a storming finish from third to first in the final quarter. She now has three Olympic medals, having also won silver in the 4x100m freestyle on Saturday and another silver in Tokyo in the 4x100m medley.
Huske’s victory means the event has not had a winner since its inaugural edition in 1956. Reigning Canadian champion Maggie MacNeil finished fifth.
Walsh had set an Olympic record of 55.38 in Saturday’s semifinal, a time that could easily have secured gold on Sunday. She had set the world record at the U.S. trials in Indianapolis last month.
“I think I was definitely nervous beforehand. I feel like there was a lot of pressure on me because I ran the world record and the Olympic record last night,” she said. “I just wanted to try to do the best I could in the race and it was definitely a fight to the finish. And it was amazing to see the one-two there. I’m so proud of Torri. I’m proud of myself. I think that’s what America needed and wanted and it was a really special moment that we shared on the podium there.”
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The pair stood together on the top step of the podium for the national anthem, with Zhang – who on Saturday expressed concern about how her rivals perceived her following a doping controversy in China – joining them afterwards.
Nic Fink added another silver medal for the US later on Sunday when he tied with Britain’s Adam Peaty in the men’s 100m breaststroke. Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi took gold.