Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 19, 2021: Hong Kong China’s double Olympic Games silver medallist Siobhan Haughey continues to make headlines at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Abu Dhabi.
Haughey, who won silver medals in both the women’s 200m and 100m freestyle at Tokyo 2020, had already recorded a golden double here in the world short-course championships by taking 200m gold in world record time and 100m gold in a championship record.
Now, by finishing third in the women’s 400m freestyle, behind China’s Li Bingjie, Haughey became the first woman in almost half a century to claim medals in the 100m-200m-400m freestyle in the same championships.
There was no doubt that Li would grab the 400m title after her overwhelming win in the 800m a day earlier, and she came home 2.04 seconds clear of the field.
“This is a great win which I kind of expected,” Li said, even offering a great smile while talking. “I was a bit tired after the 800m but a good sleep helped me to get ready for today and I’m really happy with this gold medal and with the time, too.”
Canada’s Summer McIntosh came in second, and Haughey got the bronze - a historical addition to her golds from the 100m-200m free.
Indeed, medalling in the blue-ribbon sprint event plus in the two middle distances is truly breathtaking. One needs to go back to the 1970s to find anything similar among the women: Aussie legend Shane Gould achieved it at the 1972 Olympics and USA’s Shirley Babashoff repeated the feat at the 1975 Worlds.
Though, just like Haughey, none of these all-time greats was able to claim three golds: all had two gold, paired with a silver or bronze.
Source: www.fina.org