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Privacy NoticeOlympic swimmer Benjamin Proud will be hoping to take home a medal in Paris as he competes in the men’s 50 metre freestyle final today, Friday, 2 August. It’s not been an easy journey for Ben, who was hit hard by the repercussions of the pandemic, which affected his Tokyo 2020 experience. Having been based in Turkey since 2017, Ben was forced to return to the UK when the pandemic hit, and he had to train in Bath away from his base. Displaced for those crucial final months prior to the competition, Ben’s performance suffered, and he ended up in fifth-place in the 50m freestyle leading him to question his future in the sport.
Ben will be competing in the Paris Olympics 2024
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However, Ben is now back in Turkey, and admits he rediscovered his love for swimming in time for what will be his third Olympics. Ben said: “I was in good hands during the Covid situation, but there was so much that was taken away in terms of my resources, my training base, and the time we could spend training. I look back at that period and think how the hell did I get up and race? It was such a tough year. “Coming back off the back of that I had to learn a whole load and develop myself again. I had to decide if I was going to continue swimming, I was brought to that point. Right now, I just feel much better, clear headed, I know what to expect and I know how to perform. It’s a matter of getting there and racing.”
Ben won his fair share of medals and hopes to scoop up another in Paris
While Tokyo wasn’t one of his best moments, Ben has managed to make a huge comeback and has established himself as one of the fastest men in water. Ben was crowned world champion in the 50m freestyle in 2022, a year in which he also scooped the European and Commonwealth titles. He added a global bronze last year, as Australia’s Cameron McEvoy took gold. Ben admits that Cameron and USA’s Caeleb Dressel are his biggest competitors – but who knows what will happen on the day. He said: “McEvoy, he’s always going to be the favourite because of what he did last year. Dressel is nowhere out of the picture, I’m still very confident that he’ll be there. You don’t know what form, but he is the best.”
Ben has got some tough competition in the race
Ben is one of the older competitors at the age of 29 and is one of five swimmers competing at his third Olympic Games. But with age comes wisdom and Ben goes on to speak about his ‘great career’ and that he hopes this time at the Games will be a stark contrast to Tokyo. Ben reveals he feels more ‘in control’ of the races than he has done in the past. Ben will be competing in the men’s 50 metre freestyle at 7.30pm on Friday 2 August. Following that, Duncan Scott and Tom Dean will go up against French superstar Léon Marchand in the men’s 200 metre individual final.
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Discovery+ is the new home of the Olympics
Discovery+ is the new home of the Olympics. The streamer is set to broadcast 3,800 hours of sport live from Paris. Sports fans can get Discovery+ for £3.99 a month until the end of 2024 via Amazon Prime’s video channels. This also comes with an Amazon Prime 30-day free trial.
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