NANTERRE, France — The United States set two world records on the final night of swimming at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, winning the gold medal count over rival Australia and easing the sting of the first loss ever in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay.
Bobby Finke set a new standard in the 1,500 freestyle and the American women closed a thrilling nine days at La Defense Arena with another record in their 4×100 medley relay.
Finke was under world-record pace the entire race and really turned it on coming to the finish. He touched in 14 minutes, 30.67 seconds to break the record of 14.31.02 set by China’s Sun Yang at the 2012 London Games.
“I really wanted to get on top of the podium again and hear the anthem all over again like I did for the first time in Tokyo,” said Finke, who swept the 800 and 1,500 three years ago.
It was the only individual gold medal won by an American male during the Paris Games.
The silver went to Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri in 14.34.55, while race favorite Daniel Wiffen of Ireland couldn’t follow up his triumph in the 800 freestyle. He was never a…
