USA's Bobby Finke sets 1500M freestyle world record with second-straight Olympic gold in event

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The man to beat in the 1500m men's freestyle is Bobby Finke.

The Tampa, Fla., native is now a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and world record holder, after defending his title in the event on Sunday.

Finke touched the wall for the final time at 14:30.67, beating the previous record by just 0.35 seconds. 

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Bobby Finke of Team United States walks out ahead of the Men's 1500m Freestyle Final on day nine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on August 04, 2024 in Nanterre, France.  (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Finke held a half-a-second lead at the midway point and was ahead of world record pace, but Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri. But Finke turned on the jets, increasing his lead to 1.3 seconds with 500 meters to go and getting over two seconds ahead of the record pace.

Finke eventually lost his big lead on the world record, but the Italian was never able to catch up, as he finished 3.88 seconds behind Finke for silver (at a point, Paltrinieri, too, was ahead of a record pace).

Finke failed to go back-to-back in the 800-meter free earlier in the Games, settling for the silver by just over half a second. He admitted after his world record he was "kind of p---ed" about the silver, perhaps fueling his fire for Sunday.

Bobby Finke of Team United States celebrates after winning gold in a world record time in the Men's 1500m Freestyle Final on day nine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on August 04, 2024 in Nanterre, France.  (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

It's the seventh gold medal for Americans in the swimming pool, and the 26th overall - it was a