Image: GEPA pictures/Philipp Brem
In the final, the 20-year-old was only beaten by the outstanding Japanese Tomoru Honda (1:53.88) and the Italian Alberto Razzetti (1:54.65) with a time of 1:55.16 minutes. It was the first medal for the US student and only the seventh in OSV World Championships long course history.
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Mirna Jukic (2005 and 2009/200 m breaststroke each) and Markus Rogan (2007/200 m backstroke) had previously won bronze. Rogan was also able to celebrate silver twice over the same distance (2001 and 2005), as did Maxim Podoprigora (2001/200 m breaststroke). As in the preliminary heat and in the semi-finals, where he achieved the fourth fastest time on Tuesday, Espernberger was able to exploit his potential.
He was unable to beat his personal best of 1:54.69, which he set on December 2, 2023. The Upper Austrian had planned to do this as well as attacking Dinko Jukic’s Austrian record (1:54.35). The medal is certainly a great consolation. This was denied to Felix Auböck with eighth place in the 400 meter freestyle in the only long course OSV final appearance in the current title fights.
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The Carinthian Heiko Gigler missed the climb and the Olympic limit he was also aiming for in the 100 m freestyle run. In 49.16 seconds, he was 22nd out of 109 athletes, 0.23 seconds short of the semi-finals of the Top 16, and 0.82 seconds short of the Paris standard, which was nine hundredths below his Austrian record. Gigler will compete in the 50 m freestyle on Friday and on Sunday with the OSV relay in the 4 x 100 m medley.
“22 is actually my lucky number. But it’s just the dog inside, I can’t really get going. It’s more of a fight than easy swimming,” said Gigler, who was below expectations at the European Short Course Championships in Otopeni in Romania in December . “I know I have it. Maybe the Olympic limit is too firmly anchored in the back of my mind.” The errors should now be analyzed and eliminated.
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I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
