Caeleb Dressel misses out on 100m fly final after ‘heartbreaking’ day at Paris Olympics

Caeleb Dressel’s Olympic journey is ending in a painful way. On Friday, the swimming superstar didn’t even final in his best event — the 100-meter butterfly.

Thirty minutes earlier, he finished sixth in the 50 freestyle. Dressel, the former Florida star, got out of the pool and found his wife, Meghan. The two hugged. Dressel was visibly upset.

“It’s a shocking moment,” said NBC Olympic swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines. “We can’t believe it here, either. If you can’t believe it at home, we can’t either.”

Dressel told reporters: “It hasn’t been my best week. I don’t think I need to shy away from that.”

Caeleb Dressel still has a relay left before the Paris Olympics closes out the swimming competition. But if he wins a medal, it’ll be a small consolation prize to one of the best swimmers in United States history.

Dressel started his week in Paris with a gold medal in the 4 X 100 freestyle relay. He anchored the US team. The victory gave him an eighth career gold medal. He won two golds in the 2016 Rio Games, both were as members of relay teams. Then at Tokyo in 2021, Dressel won five golds, including in the 50 and 100 freestyles and the 100 fly.

After the swim, Dressel told reporters “I’d like to be performing better, but I’m not. I trained to go faster than the times I’m going. I know that. So, yeah. It’s tough, a little heartbreaking. A little heartbreaking for sure.”

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