Freeze frame shows just how close US swimmer Luke Hobson was to 2024 Olympic gold before deflating result

US swimmer Luke Hobson came agonizingly adjacent to an Olympic golden badge connected Monday, only to settee for bronze aft missing retired by a matter of inches.

Hobson, 21, made his debut astatine nan Olympic Games successful nan 200m freestyle aft antecedently mounting nan US Open and American records for that event.

After a nail-biting title successful Paris, nan youngster walked distant pinch a bronze successful nan container to people an awesome first quality astatine nan Games conscionable 4 days aft his 21st birthday.

However, nan badge unsocial doesn't overgarment nan image of really adjacent he came to gold.

A frost framework of nan decorativeness statement shows that Hobson was conscionable a fewer inches awkward of winner David Popovici erstwhile nan Romanian completed nan race, meaning he was connected nan cusp of a sensational victory.

In nan end, though, he couldn't moreover observe a second-place decorativeness arsenic Britain's Matt Richards besides pipped him to silver.

Hobson vanished 0.07 seconds down Popovici and 0.05 down Richards pinch a clip of 1:44:79, meaning he was only denied becoming an Olympic champion by nan smallest of fractions.

He had edged himself successful beforehand astatine 1 shape of nan race, only for Richards and past Popovici to claw their measurement backmost into nan lead.

Britain's Duncan Scott, 1 of nan pre-race favorites, had to settee for fourth-place connected nan time aft coming successful down Hobson.

Scott, who won metallic successful nan arena astatine Tokyo 2020, vanished conscionable 0.08 secs adrift of nan eventual bronze medalist.

Despite narrowly missing retired connected gold, nan capacity goes down arsenic Hobson's champion ever successful nan 200m freestyle.