Paris Olympics: Delgaco finishes strong, Hatch crashes out

MANILA – Joanie Delgaco finished her campaign in the Paris Olympics strong after making the podium in the Division D final on Friday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Although without a medal, Delgaco can proudly say she is a top finisher in the final race of her stint as she took the second spot in the fourth-tier finale with her fastest run.

Delgaco clocked seven minutes and 43.83 seconds, way faster than her previous three runs to finish just behind Division D winner Alejandra Alonso of Paraguay (7:42.09).

Fatemeh Mojallaltopraghghale of Iran took third place with a time of 7:46.08, taking the last podium spot over Turkiye's Eliz Ozbay (7:46.95) in a tight finish.

Meanwhile, Jarod Hatch's bid in the men's 100-meter butterfly event came to a quick end after he fell to last place in his preliminary heat at the Paris La Defense Arena.

Hatch finished the circuit race at a time of 54.66 seconds, way slower than the 51.85-second stint of Heat 2 winner Sun Jiajun of China.

Unfortunately, none of the competitors from Heat 2 made the semifinals as Sun's finish was just good for 19th overall.

Sun was just 0.03 seconds behind the United States' Thomas Heilman, the last tanker listed as a reserve for the semifinals.

Hungary's Kristof Milak ruled the first round of the event after topping Heat 3 at a time of 50.19 seconds.

Caeleb Dressel, the defending champion and world record holder during the 2021 Tokyo Games, was sixth in the preliminary and third in Heat 5 at 50.83 seconds. (PNA)