Wiffen's 'perfect race' on the biggest stage

Daniel Wiffen executed the "perfect race" in becoming Olmypic champion, according to RTÉ Sport analyst Gráinne Murphy.

The Irish swimmer finished like a train in the men's 800m freestyle final to clinch gold in an Olympic record time of 7:38.19 at the La Defense Arena in the west of the French capital.

The Armagh man's success marks a second medal in the pool in as many days for Ireland at Paris 2024 following Mona McSharry's bronze medal feat the previous night.

"It was the perfect race, couldn’t have asked for better," says former Irish international swimmer Murphy.

"He’s very confident, he got the job done. He knew he meant business. He controlled the race. On the biggest stage of his career, he nailed it."

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Second going into the final 150m of the race, Wiffen reeled in Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri and held off defending champions Bobby Finke to touch the wall first.

Double Olympian Andrew Bree was hugely impressed by the patience displayed by the Irish man.

"I just love the fact he had the confidence over the last 50m," he said. "He knew he had another gear to shift up. He just turned on those legs with 100m to go."

Murphy added that the medal exploits from McSharry and Wiffen could have far reaching consequences for the sport in this country

"It’s brilliant for Irish swimming," she said. "The next generation of swimmers will now see a gold medal at the Olympics, hopefully the pools are going to be full tomorrow of the next Olympians."