US swimmer Luke Hobson came agonizingly close to clinching an Olympic gold medal on Monday, ultimately settling for bronze after missing out by mere inches.
At 21 years old, Hobson made his Olympic debut in the 200m freestyle, having previously broken both the US Open and American records in that event.
Following a thrilling race in Paris, he secured a bronze medal, marking a remarkable introduction to the Olympics just four days after his 21st birthday.
However, the medal alone fails to convey just how close he came to achieving gold.
A snapshot of the finish shows that Hobson was only a few inches behind winner David Popovici when the Romanian completed the race, putting him on the verge of a stunning victory.
US swimmer Luke Hobson came agonizingly close to an Olympic gold medal on Monday
A freeze frame of the finish line shows Hobson (right) was just a few inches shy of winner David Popovici (second from right) when the Romanian completed the race
In the end, he wasn’t even able to celebrate a second-place finish as Britain’s Matt Richards also managed to overtake him for silver.
Hobson’s time of 1:44:79 left him 0.07 seconds behind Popovici and just 0.05 seconds behind Richards, indicating he missed out on becoming an Olympic champion by the tiniest of margins.
At one point during the race, he had surged ahead, but both Richards and then Popovici quickly reclaimed the lead.
Britain’s Duncan Scott, a pre-race favorite, finished in fourth place after falling behind Hobson.
Scott, who earned silver in this event at Tokyo 2020, finished just 0.08 seconds behind Hobson, the eventual bronze medalist.
Despite narrowly missing out on gold, this performance marks Hobson’s personal best in the 200m freestyle.
