1,500 metres Freestyle, Men

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.