Matthew Richards became the first Welsh person to win a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after securing a stunning 200m Freestyle silver.
The 21-year-old, who won relay gold in Tokyo four years ago, was in the hunt for individual glory at La Defense Arena, but faced a daunting challenge after qualifying seventh fastest into the final.
His strategy was clear from the start – go out hard and don’t look back. The Welshman surged into an early lead as he went toe-to-toe with Romania’s David Popovici, Germany’s Lukas Maertens and the rest of the stacked Olympic final field.
Despite his rapid start, Richards never let his pace drop from lane one as he hit the halfway mark in 50.92. Popovici came storming back in the second half of the race but Richards fought him off to make for a nail-biting finish down the home straight.
It looked as if Matt had held the Romanian off, but Popovici beat him by a fingernail to take the touch in 1:44.72, just two hundredths of a second ahead of the Welshman.
“I can’t be too disappointed; it was my first individual final at the Olympics and a silver medal is fantastic,” said Richards. “To be two hundredths of a second off gold is excruciatingly frustrating but if anything it’s added more fire to my belly with the 100m Free and 4x200m relay to come.
“I’m gutted for Duncan who just missed out on a medal, no one deserves it more than him, but it bodes really well for our 4×200 and it will fuel me for the rest of it.
“It felt like I’d got it. It wasn’t my best finish, it didn’t feel bad and I thought I’d done enough but the time says differently and it’s black and white. We’ll move on and get better.
“It wasn’t ideal being in Lane 1, I misjudged the semi-final a bit, so I was out on my own, swimming my own race. It’s all experience, it’s all learning and I’m still only 21, I have at least another 10 years before I even think about hanging up the goggles.”
Matt’s family were the victims of a ticket scam in the build-up to the Games, but they managed to secure genuine seats at La Defense Arena, and he was delighted he could share the moment with his family.
He added: “My fiancée and my mum and dad are up there which is really special, it’s not an easy sport, but knowing they were here and hearing my dad shout ‘come on Matty’ just before I dived in made it so special.”
