PARIS: China’s Pan Zhanle broke a world record when he won the men’s 100m freestyle at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
Pan crossed the finish line in 46.40s, breaking the world record of 46.80 he set in Doha in February.
Australia’s Kyle Chalmers, gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Games, finished 1.08 seconds behind to take silver and Romania’s David Popovici took bronze.
Pan’s win was a much-needed boost for China, who have been disappointing so far in the Paris pool.
It was a bittersweet result for Chalmers, who had to settle for silver in Tokyo and hoped to reclaim his crown eight years after his triumph in Brazil.
Pan is the first Chinese swimmer to hold the world record in the event, and now the first to win gold in the blue-ribbon sport. The bronze was the second medal in Paris for 19-year-old Popovici, who won gold in the 200m freestyle.
