Team USA | Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh Share the Podium in Paris

NANTERRE — For Torri Huske, redemption got here within the type of an Olympic gold medal Sunday evening. The 21-year-old used a charging end to beat out USA teammate and present world report holder Gretchen Walsh by simply 4 one-hundredths of a second within the 100-meter butterfly. The duo are the primary American ladies to report a gold and silver medal within the occasion since 1984, when Mary T. Meagher and Jenna Johnson achieved the feat.

The Olympic ultimate of the 100-meter butterfly is acquainted territory for Huske. She was narrowly out-touched for third by Australia’s Emma McKeon in Tokyo, lacking the rostrum by only one one-hundredth of a second.

“I am not gonna lie, that was devastating,” mentioned Huske when requested in regards to the loss in 2021. “However I feel that it actually fueled me, and I feel that it did make me higher.”

The flexibility to study from her disappointment in Tokyo was on full show along with her victory right here in Paris. In 2021, Huske had a promising lead the primary 80-meters of the race earlier than falling behind on the house stretch. The story couldn’t be extra totally different three years later in La Défense. After handing over third place on the 50-meter mark, Huske discovered one other gear the final 20 meters of the race to complete in 55.59 seconds. Walsh was second in 55.63 seconds, forward of China’s Zhang Yufei, who took residence silver within the occasion in Tokyo.

The shock of successful the tight battle was worn throughout Huske’s face as she regarded up on the outcomes.

“It was actually surreal,” mentioned Huske. “You’ve got been dreaming about this second for thus lengthy, after which it lastly turns into a actuality. I do not even actually know the way to course of it. I felt like I used to be hyperventilating just a little bit.”

Huske wasted no time discovering Walsh after the race, embracing her over the lane line. The 2 stood side-by-side on prime of the rostrum because the flags have been raised and the nationwide anthem echoed in the course of the medal ceremony.