"Anything is possible", he reacted, before adding: "with a lot, a lot, a lot of work!".

Fourth in the last Euro last year in Budapest, Joly swam in 14 min 50 sec 86, behind the Ukrainian Mykhaylo Romanchuk (14.36.10) who beat local favorite Gregorio Paltrinieri (14.39.79), silver medalist .

The pupil of Philippe Lucas, who started cautiously, rose to third place 800 meters from the finish and controlled alone the return of the Italian Domenico Acerenza to finish 2 seconds from his French record (14.48.90) , achieved at the Rio Games in 2016. He erased the disappointment born of his 6th place in the 800m obtained on Saturday, more than 5 seconds from the podium.

"It's the great reward of a lot of training, a lot of sacrifices, of swallowed kilometers", declared Joly.

"I'm really happy with the work done and to finally get to this international podium. And it foresees a lot of good things until the Paris Olympics, it comforts me in the idea that it's not the age that counts , when the body is fine, everything is fine. And when the head is fine, nothing is impossible."

"I like what I do"

Asked what motivates him, he replied: "I am simply having fun. I like what I do every day and that is what makes me continue to progress and to have this result tonight."

The evening for the Blues ended with a second medal, the ninth since the start of the week, with silver in the mixed 4x200m relay.

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With a time of 7 min 29 sec 25, Hadrien Salvan, Wissam-Amazigh Yebba, Charlotte Bonnet and Lucile Tessariol took second place behind the British (7.28.16) and ahead of the Italians (7.31.85).

In the lead before the last length, the young Lucile Tessariol (18), flanked by the Briton Freya Anderson, bronze medalist in the 100m, at the water line number 5, cracked in the last meters.

"It was intense, we were expected because in the series we had placed first. We finished second, it's still a great success. the same flavor (as a victory), "said Wissam-Amazigh Yebba, 22.

"A strong nation can also be seen in the relays", continued Charlotte Bonnet.

"The 4x200m, the results have been a little more complicated for a long time, and it's nice to be back on the podium."

Sjöström record

In the other races of the evening, Sweden's Sarah Sjöström once again became European champion in the 50m freestyle, winning the 27th continental medal of her career, a record.

On the eve of her 29th birthday, she won ahead of the Polish Katarzyna Wasick and the Dutch Valerie Van Roon.

In Rome, in addition to gold in the 50 freestyle, she also won the 50m butterfly title, as well as silver in the women's 4x100m relay and bronze in the mixed relay, her 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th medals Europeans.

She thus overtakes the Russian Aleksandr Popov and his 26 podiums.

In Rome, the emergence of David Popovici as the new pool star nearly overshadowed the monstrous performances of Hungary's Krisof Milak, who on Tuesday added a fifth European medal to his collection of the week with the 200m butterfly gold.

Olympic champion in the specialty, world record holder, Milak won in 1 min 52 sec 01.

Finally, Italy won two new titles thanks to Nicolo Martinenghi in the 50m breaststroke and Margherita Panziera in the 100m backstroke.

It is the tenth time that the famous anthem "Fratelli d'Italia" resounds in the open-air basin of the Foro Italico this week.

© 2022 AFP