Updated Paris 2024: Daniel Wiffen setting sights on 1500m world record

Daniel Wiffen produced a dominant display on his way to winning his heat in the men's 1500m freestyle, posting a time of 14:40.34 to safely secure his place in Sunday's final, and immediately set his sights on a gold medal and a new world record.

In the third heat of four, Wiffen and Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri were swimming neck and neck early on, with the latter slightly ahead until the 800m mark. It was there where the 800m gold medallist exerted his class and powered clear.

And while Paltrinieri (14:42.56) eroded Wiffen's advantage over the final 200m, the Irishman comfortably held on to post a time that was over four seconds faster than Ahmed Jaquadi (14:44.20), who won heat four just ahead of the USA's Bobby Finke.

"I think so, I'm going to try, I really want to break [the world record]," Wiffen told RTÉ Sport after his heat. "If it’s tomorrow, it is what it is, but if it’s not… personally, if I’m going to win Olympic gold tomorrow I’m going to need to go sub-world record, so we’ll see…

"I'm 100% setting my sights on another gold medal, I’m not going to go in with a different goal. Now I’m Olympic champion, I have to aim for it again, I can’t really get worse than that in my head. So, get in, have a crack at it and see what we can produce."

Paris 2024: Olympic gold medallist Daniel Wiffen is targetting a second gold and a new world record after booking his place in the men's 1500m final with a dominant victory in his heat.#RTESport #Paris2024