Olympics-Swimming-Ninth gold for Dressel as US smash mixed 4x100 medley record

Paris 2024 Olympics - Swimming - Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final - Paris La Defense Arena, Nanterre, France - August 03, 2024. Gretchen Walsh of United States in action /Ueslei Marcelino

PARIS - Caeleb Dressel won a ninth career Olympic gold medal from the sidelines as the United States romped to victory in the mixed 4x100 metres medley relay in world record time at the Paris Games on Saturday.

The winning time of three minutes 37.43 seconds smashed the record of 3:37.58 set by previous champions Britain at the 2021 Tokyo Games.

China took the silver 0.12 behind and Australia the bronze. France, with Leon Marchand swimming the second leg, finished fourth -- the four-gold national hero's first defeat in a final at the La Defense Arena.

Ryan Murphy swam the opening leg for the United States, with Nic Fink and Gretchen Walsh following before Torri Huske made sure of the gold.

Regan Smith, Charlie Swanson, Dressel and Abbey Weitzeil had all swum in the preliminary on Friday to secure the place in the final and were also rewarded for their efforts despite not appearing on the podium.

"We got the world record, we got number one, we're on the podium with our golds," said Walsh, who swam a personal best of 55.18 seconds to take the lead from China.

"It was a pretty special moment and I mean, shout out to these three teammates. I wouldn't be here without them, so it's a pretty cool experience."

Dressel has only ever won gold medals from his three Games, adding two in Paris to the five he won in Tokyo and a pair in Rio de Janeiro, but his Paris Olympics have been disappointing on an individual level.

He failed to defend his individual titles, leaving the pool deck in tears after finishing fifth in his 100 butterfly semi-final.

There was nothing disappointing about Marchand, the Paris poster boy whose heroics have brought an unforgettable atmosphere to the converted rugby stadium, and whose presence raised the roof again on Saturday in his penultimate race of the Games.

But even the 22-year-old could not work the kind of miracle that was needed against such mighty opponents.

China's silver medal time of 3:37.55 -- set by a team of Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei and Yang Junxuan -- was also inside the 2021 world record, while Australia's Kaylee McKeown, Joshua Yong, Matthew Temple and Mollie O'Callaghan clocked an Oceanian record of 3:38.76.

"It was cool, I think we enjoyed it, it was a great final," said Marchand.

Britain, without their breaststroke powerhouse Adam Peaty, finished only seventh.