GB retain relay title to win first swimming gold

Great Britain retained their Olympic 4x200m freestyle relay title to secure the team’s first swimming gold in Paris.

After Adam Peaty and Matt Richards came agonisingly close with silvers, the same quartet that won in Tokyo – Richards, James Guy, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott – reunited to win in the cauldron of La Defense Arena.

They had a slender lead going into the final leg but Scott, who was a cruel fourth in the individual event 24 hours earlier, brought the team home to win by a relatively comfortable 1.35 seconds.

As the 27-year-old came down the final length, his fellow Scot Andy Murray prolonged his tennis career with another remarkable doubles victory in a special few moments for Team GB in Paris.

Victory in the pool made this the first time a British relay quartet has retained an Olympic title in swimming or athletics.

It brought Team GB a fourth gold of the Games, taking their medal total to 12.

Englishman Kieran Bird and Jack McMillan, from Northern Ireland, will also receive medals having filled in for Richards and Scott in the morning heats.

Men’s freestyle is Britain’s great strength in swimming.

The quartet who took the title are huge rivals for individual places but also great friends whenever they come together as a team.

As well as their Olympic gold in 2021, they won the world title in 2023 and came into this race as huge favourites.

With Richards and Scott having gruelling schedules, they were rested for the heats but came in for the final two legs.

Guy gave the team a flying start. He is supposedly the weakest freestyler but built a lead over American Luke Hobson, who won bronze in the individual event on Monday.

With USA and France in the race, the noise levels were high. Dean – the 200m individual champion from 2021, who did not qualify here because of Richards and Scott, lost the lead momentarily but came strong in his final length.

Richards stretched the lead again to hand Scott the advantage, and he was never going to be caught.

Scott now has seven Olympic medals including two golds, with only former cyclists Sir Jason Kenny and Sir Bradley Wiggins ahead of him in terms of total medals on the British list.

Dean now has three Olympic golds, while Guy – GB’s ever-reliable relay specialist – has three golds and three silvers, all of them part of a quartet.

More to follow.