Caeleb Dressel Clinches 9th Gold Medal Despite Sitting Out Saturday

Caeleb Dressel has still only won gold medals in his Olympic career.

PARIS, France — Caeleb Dressel added his ninth career gold medal in a surprising turn of events at the Summer Games in Paris.

Dressel clinched his eighth gold in a relay race on the first day of swimming events. However, he experienced disappointment in his attempt to defend two of his titles from Tokyo 2020. The swimmer placed sixth in the 50-meter freestyle and didn’t make it to the final round of the 100-meter butterfly.

On Friday night, emotions ran high for Dressel as he missed the podium for his individual events. A tearful Dressel faced the reality that his 2024 Olympic bid in individual swimming had come to a close.

Just one day later, he found redemption in the mixed 4x100m medley relay. Even though Dressel did not swim in the final round, his contribution in the prelims earned him a gold medal. The final team set a new world record, thanks to efforts from Regan Smith, Charlie Swanson, and Abbey Weitzeil, along with Dressel’s preliminary performance.

This latest victory places Dressel in a four-way tie for the second-most gold medals among U.S. Olympians. He shares this position with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, and Katie Ledecky. Leading the pack is the retired Michael Phelps, who holds an unmatched 23 Olympic gold medals.