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1,500 metres Freestyle, Men

Date30 July – 1 August 2021
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympic Aquatics Centre, 2-1, 2chome, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tatsumi-no-Mori Seaside Park, Tokyo, Japan
Participants28 from 20 countries

Always contested on the last day of the Olympic swimming tournament, the 1,500 freestyle had three favorites with little to choose between them – Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, the defending gold medallist, Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk, and German Florian Wellbrock, the 2019 World Champion, who had gone 2-3-4, in that order, in the 800 metres three days prior. That race had been won by American Robert Finke in a major upset, as he was completely unheralded coming into Tokyo.

The big four led the qualifying, with Romanchuk first in 14:45.99, followed by Finke in 14:47.20, and then Wellbrock in third and Paltrinieri finishing fourth.

Finke was unknown no longer, but in the final he played the same waiting game as he had in the 800, holding third or fourth position for most of the race. Wellbrock led most of the race, taking the lead before 300 metres and holding it into the final lap, with Romanchuk second most of the way. And then Finke exploded on the last lap, as he had done in the 800, splitting the final 50 in 25.78, a full second ahead of Romanchuk, and two seconds faster than Wellbrock, which brought Finke home for a second distance gold medal.

Paltrinieri was never a factor for a medal in the last few laps, as Romanchuk held on for silver and Wellbrock took the bronze. Wellbrock would later win gold in the 10 km open water swim at Tokyo, an event he had also won at the 2019 World Championships.

PosSwimmerNOCR1Final
1Bobby FinkeUSA14:47.20 (2 h4)14:39.65 (1)Gold
2Mykhailo RomanchukUKR14:45.99 (1 h4)14:40.66 (2)Silver
3Florian WellbrockGER14:48.53 (1 h3)14:40.91 (3)Bronze
4Gregorio PaltrinieriITA14:49.17 (3 h4)14:45.01 (4)
5Daniel JervisGBR14:50.22 (2 h3)14:55.48 (5)
6Kirill MartynychevROC14:52.66 (2 h2)14:55.85 (6)
7Felix AuböckAUT14:51.88 (1 h2)15:03.47 (7)
8Serhiy FrolovUKR14:51.83 (3 h3)15:04.26 (8)
9Domenico AcerenzaITA14:53.84 (4 h3)
10Jack McLoughlinAUS14:56.98 (4 h4)
11Lukas MärtensGER14:59.45 (5 h4)
12Nguyễn Huy HoàngVIE15:00.24 (5 h3)
13Guilherme CostaBRA15:01.18 (6 h4)
14Anton IpsenDEN15:01.58 (6 h3)
15Gergely GyurtaHUN15:01.85 (3 h2)
16Thomas NeillAUS15:04.65 (4 h2)
17Michael BrinegarUSA15:04.67 (5 h2)
18Victor JohanssonSWE15:05.53 (6 h2)
19Aleksandr YegorovROC15:06.55 (7 h4)
20Daniel WiffenIRL15:07.69 (1 h1)
21Henrik ChristiansenNOR15:11.14 (7 h3)
22Ákos KalmárHUN15:17.02 (7 h2)
23Jan MickaCZE15:17.71 (8 h3)
24Cheng LongCHN15:18.71 (8 h2)
25Marcelo AcostaESA15:27.37 (2 h1)
26Alexander NørgaardDEN15:28.70 (8 h4)
27Aflah PrawiraINA15:29.94 (3 h1)
28Théo DruenneMON16:17.20 (4 h1)
DNSMarwan El-KamashEGY– (DNS h1)

Round One (30 July 2021 — 19:48)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
15Mykhailo RomanchukUKR14:45.99Q
23Bobby FinkeUSA14:47.20Q
34Florian WellbrockGER14:48.53Q
44Gregorio PaltrinieriITA14:49.17Q
53Daniel JervisGBR14:50.22Q
67Serhiy FrolovUKR14:51.83Q
78Felix AuböckAUT14:51.88Q
83Kirill MartynychevROC14:52.66Q
92Domenico AcerenzaITA14:53.84
107Jack McLoughlinAUS14:56.98
112Lukas MärtensGER14:59.45
128Nguyễn Huy HoàngVIE15:00.24
131Guilherme CostaBRA15:01.18
141Anton IpsenDEN15:01.58
155Gergely GyurtaHUN15:01.85
164Thomas NeillAUS15:04.65
176Michael BrinegarUSA15:04.67
187Victor JohanssonSWE15:05.53
198Aleksandr YegorovROC15:06.55
205Daniel WiffenIRL15:07.69
215Henrik ChristiansenNOR15:11.14
222Ákos KalmárHUN15:17.02
236Jan MickaCZE15:17.71
241Cheng LongCHN15:18.71
253Marcelo AcostaESA15:27.37
266Alexander NørgaardDEN15:28.70
274Aflah PrawiraINA15:29.94
282Théo DruenneMON16:17.20
DNS6Marwan El-KamashEGY

Heat One (19:48)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15Daniel WiffenIRL15:07.690.70
23Marcelo AcostaESA15:27.370.75
34Aflah PrawiraINA15:29.940.56
42Théo DruenneMON16:17.200.76
DNS6Marwan El-KamashEGY

Heat Two (20:06)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
18Felix AuböckAUT14:51.880.74Q
23Kirill MartynychevROC14:52.660.70Q
35Gergely GyurtaHUN15:01.850.63
44Thomas NeillAUS15:04.650.61
56Michael BrinegarUSA15:04.670.74
67Victor JohanssonSWE15:05.530.65
72Ákos KalmárHUN15:17.020.67
81Cheng LongCHN15:18.710.71

Heat Three (20:24)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
14Florian WellbrockGER14:48.530.68Q
23Daniel JervisGBR14:50.220.62Q
37Serhiy FrolovUKR14:51.830.75Q
42Domenico AcerenzaITA14:53.840.74
58Nguyễn Huy HoàngVIE15:00.240.68
61Anton IpsenDEN15:01.580.67
75Henrik ChristiansenNOR15:11.140.72
86Jan MickaCZE15:17.710.67

Heat Four (20:42)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15Mykhailo RomanchukUKR14:45.990.73Q
23Bobby FinkeUSA14:47.200.75Q
34Gregorio PaltrinieriITA14:49.170.73Q
47Jack McLoughlinAUS14:56.980.73
52Lukas MärtensGER14:59.450.71
61Guilherme CostaBRA15:01.180.68
78Aleksandr YegorovROC15:06.550.71
86Alexander NørgaardDEN15:28.700.65

Final (1 August 2021 — 10:44)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15Bobby FinkeUSA14:39.650.75
24Mykhailo RomanchukUKR14:40.660.70
33Florian WellbrockGER14:40.910.70
46Gregorio PaltrinieriITA14:45.010.80
52Daniel JervisGBR14:55.480.64
68Kirill MartynychevROC14:55.850.69
71Felix AuböckAUT15:03.470.77
87Serhiy FrolovUKR15:04.260.76