Swedish swimmer and world record holder in the 100-meter freestyle, Sarah Sjöström has decided not to enter the huddle in freestyle in Paris.
Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjöström, the reigning World Record holder in the 100-meter freestyle, has decided that she will not swim the event individually at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Despite holding the fastest time in history at 51.71, which she swam while leading off the 4×100 free relay at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, the individual gold medal has eluded her for the past five world championships and two Olympic Games.
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Sjöström earned silver at the 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2022 World Championships, and bronze in 2019. In 2023, she opted not to swim the event individually, instead leading off the 4×100 relay at 52.24, a time that would have earned silver only behind Mollie O’Callaghan’s 52.16. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sjostrom earned bronze (52.99) behind Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak’s tie for gold, while at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she missed the podium by 0.16 seconds, ultimately finishing in 5th (52.68).
Sjöström told Dagens Nyheter, a daily newspaper in Sweden, that while she will be swimming the 100 free at Doha, it is not because she is chasing gold. When asked to elaborate, she clarified that although she thought “it would have been so cool to get a gold there too” she ultimately decided to swim it because she believed that it would “be good to have a race there.” Additionally, she would not have any other races on the first day of competition since the Swedish women had already qualified for their 4×100 freestyle relay for the Olympics during last year’s Fukuoka Championships.
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As for her decision to skip the event in Paris, Sjostrom explained that she believes her door for the 100 free has closed. She said she is “happy with everything [she] has done in the 100 free, from the world record to all the silver medals.” She feels similarly for the 100 fly and 200 free, which is why she no longer competes in those events either. Now, Sjostrom has her eyes set on Olympic Gold in the 50 free because she has always “wanted to go all in on the 50 distances,” and believes that her best shot at accomplishing this feat requires being fresh when the time comes.
Although Sjostrom will not be competing in the event individually, she will still be able to log an official time in the 100 free at the Paris Olympic Games if she leads off the 4×100 free relay.
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