"Caleb Dressel got cooked"; "That was embarrassing" - Fans react as American fails to medal in 50m freestyle at Paris Olympics 2024 

By Soumik Bhattacharya

Modified Aug 02, 2024 20:51 GMT

The reigning 50m freestyle Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel failed to defend his title at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday, August 2. The swimmer finished sixth in the event. It was an underwhelming performance performance from Dressel, especially compared to his gold-winning swim three years ago in Tokyo. He set the Olympic record at that event, recording a time of 21.07 seconds.

On Friday, Dressel finished his swim in 21.61 seconds: 0.54 more than his time in Tokyo 2021. 30-year-old Australian swimmer Cameroon McEvoy clinched the top-podium finish in the event with a mark of 21.25 seconds. Great Britain's Benjamin Proud and France's Florent Manaudou finished second and third with 21.30 seconds and 21.56 seconds.

Following Dressel's result at the event, fans have expressed disappointment at the performance of the 27-year-old. Numerous accounts on X (formerly Twitter) to shared their thoughts after the swim:

"Caeleb dressel is washed omg," said one fan

"Caleb Dressel got cooked. it’s over for blud" wrote another

"True. Caeleb Dressel better start pulling his f**king weight" a fan replied

Here are a few more reactions to Dressel's 50m freestyle performance in the event finals:

"Time to go be a family man @caelebdressel" a fan wrote

"Seems like the worst Olympic for Dressel! From OR last time to finish second last this time wtf was that?" wrote another

"Caeleb dressel omg please do something on the 100 butterly that was embarrassing that freestyle" commented another

Caeleb Dressel wins eighth gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024

Dressel on the sixth day of the Paris Olympics 2024 (IMAGE: GETTY)

Dressel clinched the eighth gold medal of his Olympic career on Saturday (July 27), following a solid performance with the US relay team in 4x100m freestyle. This was the fifth gold medal for Dressel in Olympic relay events: he won the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay gold medals in both Rio and Tokyo.

Led by Dressel, the team of Jack Alexy, Chris Guilliano, and Hunter Armstrong clinched the top position on the podium after registering a winning time of 3:09.28. Australia and Italy won the silver and bronze medals with a time of 3:10.35 and 3:10.70 respectively.

Dressel, who swam in the fourth leg of the relay, finished in 47.53 seconds after his teammate Hunter Armstrong swam the third leg in just 46.75 seconds.