Returning Olympians: Which Tokyo Medalists Will Be Back In Paris?
This article originally appeared in the 2024 Olympic Preview edition of SwimSwam Magazine, courtesy of author James Sutherland. Subscribe to the SwimSwam Magazine here.
With a short three-year window between Olympics, with a bunch of major international meets packed in between, there were not as many retirements post-Tokyo as we usually see at the end of an Olympic cycle.
That, coupled with the fact that the majority of the medalists in Tokyo were in their prime and still have plenty of runway in their careers, there have only been a handful of reigning Olympic medalists who won’t be back vying to make it two in a row in Paris.
Below, find the individual medal table from the Tokyo Games with the swimmers who won’t be returning crossed out. That includes retirements, Russian swimmers who haven’t applied for neutral status, and those who failed to qualify at their respective national trials.
MEN
EVENT
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
50m Freestyle
Caeleb Dressel (USA)
21.07
Florent Manaudou (FRA)
21.55
Bruno Fratus (BRA)
21.57
100m Freestyle
Caeleb Dressel (USA)
47.02
Kyle Chalmers (AUS)
47.08
Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS)
47.44
200m Freestyle
Tom Dean (GBR)
1:44.22
Duncan Scott (GBR)
1:44.26
Fernando Scheffer (BRA)
1:44.66
400m Freestyle
Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN)
3:43.36
Jack McLoughlin (AUS)
3:43.52
Kieran Smith (USA)
3:43.94
800m Freestyle
Bobby Finke (USA)
7:41.87
Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA)
7:42.11
Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR)
7:42.33
1500m Freestyle
Bobby Finke (USA)
14:39.65
Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR)
14:40.66
Florian Wellbrock (GER)
14:40.91
100m Backstroke
Evgeny Rylov (RUS)
51.98
Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS)
52.00
Ryan Murphy (USA)
52.19
200m Backstroke
Evgeny Rylov (RUS)
1:53.27
Ryan Murphy (USA)
1:54.15
Luke Greenbank (GBR)
1:54.72
100m Breaststroke
Adam Peaty (GBR)
57.37
Arno Kamminga (NED)
58
Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA)
58.33
200m Breaststroke
Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS)
2:06.38
Arno Kamminga (NED)
2:07.01
Matti Mattsson (FIN)
2:07.13
100m Butterfly
Caeleb Dressel (USA)
49.45
Kristof Milak (HUN)
49.68
Noe Ponti (SUI)
50.74
200m Butterfly
Kristof Milak (HUN)
1:51.25
Tomoru Honda (JPN)
1:53.73
Federico Burdisso (ITA)
1:54.45
200m Individual Medley
Wang Shun (CHN)
1:55.00
Duncan Scott (GBR)
1:55.28
Jeremy Desplanches (SUI)
1:56.17
400m Individual Medley
Chase Kalisz (USA)
4:09.42
Jay Litherland (USA)
4:10.28
Brendon Smith (AUS)
4:10.38
The men’s distance freestyle and breaststroke events will feature all three returning medalists from Tokyo, as will the men’s 100 fly. The gold and silver medalists will be absent in the 400 free and 100 back.
WOMEN
EVENT
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
50m Freestyle
Emma McKeon (AUS)
23.81
Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
24.07
Pernille Blume (DEN)
24.21
100m Freestyle
Emma McKeon (AUS)
51.96
Siobhan Haughey (HKG)
52.27
Cate Campbell (AUS)
52.52
200m Freestyle
Ariarne Titmus (AUS)
1:53.50
Siobhan Haughey (HKG)
1:53.92
Penny Oleksiak (CAN)
1:54.70
400m Freestyle
Ariarne Titmus (AUS)
3:56.69
Katie Ledecky (USA)
3:57.36
Li Bingjie (CHN)
4:01.08
800m Freestyle
Katie Ledecky (USA)
8:12.57
Ariarne Titmus (AUS)
8:13.83
Simona Quadarella (ITA)
8:18.35
1500m Freestyle
Katie Ledecky (USA)
15:37.34
Erica Sullivan (USA)
15:41.41
Sarah Wellbrock (GER)
15:42.91
100m Backstroke
Kaylee McKeown (AUS)
57.47
Kylie Masse (CAN)
57.72
Regan Smith (USA)
58.05
200m Backstroke
Kaylee McKeown (AUS)
2:04.68
Kylie Masse (CAN)
2:05.42
Emily Seebohm (AUS)
2:06.17
100m Breaststroke
Lydia Jacoby (USA)
1:04.95
Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA)
1:05.22
Lilly King (USA)
1:05.54
200m Breaststroke
Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA)
2:18.95
Lilly King (USA)
2:19.92
Annie Lazor (USA)
2:20.84
100m Butterfly
Maggie MacNeil (CAN)
55.59
Zhang Yufei (CHN)
55.64
Emma McKeon (AUS)
55.72
200m Butterfly
Zhang Yufei (CHN)
2:03.86
Regan Smith (USA)
2:05.30
Hali Flickinger (USA)
2:05.65
200m Individual Medley
Yui Ohashi (JPN)
2:08.52
Alex Walsh (USA)
2:08.65
Kate Douglass (USA)
2:09.04
400m Individual Medley
Yui Ohashi (JPN)
4:32.08
Emma Weyant (USA)
4:32.76
Hali Flickinger (USA)
4:34.90
On the women’s side, we’ll see the full podium from Tokyo return in the 400 and 800 free, 100 back, and 200 IM, while two-thirds of the medalists from 2021 will be missing in the 50, 100 free and 1500 free, and 400 IM.
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