Tokyo (AFP)

The American Caeleb Dressel, already crowned Olympic champion in the 100m freestyle and 4x100m relay in Tokyo, flew over the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly of the Olympic Games with a time of 49 sec 71 / 100th, while the Frenchman Mehdy Metella narrowly missed qualifying on Friday in Tokyo.

Dressel, double world champion and holder of the world record for the distance (49.50), clearly dominated his main rival, the Hungarian Kristof Milak, who earlier won the first semi-final in 50 sec 31 / 100th, i.e. the second time in the semi-finals.

Milak, 21, crushed the final in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday and is aiming for the 100/200 m butterfly double that would place him in the lineage of American Mark Spitz at the 1972 Olympics, Russian Denis Pankratov in 1996 and Michael Phelps in 2004 as in 2008.

Dressel, 24, is aiming, in addition to the 100m butterfly, whose final is scheduled for Saturday, three other gold medals in the 50m freestyle, 4x100m medley and 4x100m mixed medley.

Mehdy Metella clocked the 9th semi-finals (51.32), failing just 2 / 100th of 8th and last qualifying place for the final.

Starting very strong, the French stalled in the last 20 meters, finishing 5th in the first series.

"My feeling is of course a mixture of disappointment and satisfaction. It hasn't gone far. But I have no regrets after the year I have lived," said Metella after her race.

World bronze medalist in 2017 over 100 m, Metella has struggled to regain his level since a shoulder operation in January 2020, which required a long rehabilitation and continues to make him suffer.

"It was so hard to come back to the top level, I do not wish any athlete to live what I have experienced," said the 29-year-old swimmer.

On Tuesday, Metella was also eliminated in the 100m freestyle heats.

The Guyanese now plans on the next World Championships.

"Missing the final here, I can not say that it does not matter of course, I am disappointed, but on the other hand at the World Championships… For me the only medal that matters is to succeed in beating my opponents , it does not matter whether it is at the Olympics or at the World Championships ", he concluded.

Unpredictable, the Guyanese had not passed the course of the series in May at the European Championships in Budapest (52.31, 19th fastest), before winning the French Championships in mid-June in 50 sec 87.

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