By Phil Lutton
Rio de Janeiro: Kyle Chalmers has stunned the swimming world. The Adelaide 18-year-old has come from the clouds to upset the superstars of men's sprinting and take a famous gold medal in the 100m freestyle final.
With American Nathan Adrian and Australia's Cameron McEvoy the overwhelming favourites, Chalmers surged through the field to win the first gold medal for Australia in this event since Michael Wenden in 1968.
Cameron McEvoy congratulates Kyle Chalmers after he won Rio gold.Credit: Joe Armao
McEvoy was never in the race, finishing seventh, while Chalmers was right in touch with the field at the turn and finished over the top of them to complete a meteoric rise to the top of men's sprinting in a time of 47.58.
The pre-race favourite, McEvoy, was gracious in defeat, heaping praise on his teenage teammate. "To have an Olympic champion, that's bloody wonderful," he said of Chalmers.
Winner: Australia's Kyle Chalmers.Credit: AP
It had been the Canadian Santo Condorelli in lane six who had turned in front at the halfway mark before Adrian, the defending champion, took over and loomed as the one to beat.
Like a classic backmarker, Chalmers' strength is all in his ending. Having worked his way into a position from which to strike, he put on the after burners to power past Adrian (47.85), who had to settle for bronze as Belgium's Pieter Timmers pinched silver in 47.8. McEvoy swam 48.12.
Chalmers becomes the youngest male swimmer to win an individual gold medal at Olympics since Ian Thorpe at the age of 17 in Sydney in 2000.
He spurned a potential career in the AFL to concentrate on swimming and this has more than vindicated his decision. He said afterwards: "I had that mental belief I could do that. I've been training to go 47.5, so to turn around and see that was very exciting for me. It's just having that mental courage to control my first 50m and then work that back end.
"That last 15, I love the sting. When I got to that last 15 and started to burn up, I knew I'd done the training. It was very good."
McEvoy, always the analyst, was trying to digest his inability to fire in the final. He went 47.04 at the Australian trials but never looked like threatening that in Rio.
"I didn't feel great at all in the race and the warm-up. That's sport. I guess the rest of Australia can get excited over an Olympic champion at 18. I've been rooming with him the whole Games... he's got everything going for him," McEvoy said.
"He's a bloody great swimmer."