U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel broke down in tears after failing to defend his Olympic gold medals in the 100-meter butterfly and 50-meter freestyle events on Friday.
Dressel, who has 8 Olympic gold medals, was favored to top the podium at the Paris Games after winning gold in both events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He reached the Paris Olympic finals in the 50-meter freestyle but placed sixth with a time of 21.61 seconds, over .35 seconds behind Australia’s Cameron McEvoy, who took gold.
Less than an hour later, he was knocked out in the semi-finals of the men’s 100-meter butterfly, finishing fifth with a time of 51.57 seconds, more than a second behind France’s Maxime Grousset’s winning time of 50.41.
Photographers captured the 27-year-old Florida resident in tears, likely overcome by the disappointment elite athletes feel when they don’t perform their best under extreme pressure.
Despite this, Dressel did win a gold medal in Paris in the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay with Team USA – the country’s first in this year’s Games – on Saturday.
In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Dressel nabbed a gold medal with a world-record time of 49.45 seconds in the men’s 100-meter butterfly and set an Olympic record in the men’s 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.07.
