Josh Liendo wins silver in 100m butterfly, earns first Olympic medal

Florida Gators swimmer Josh Liendo captures the silver medal for Canada in the 100-meter butterfly final at the Paris Olympic Games.

Florida junior swimmer [autotag]Josh Liendo[/autotag] competed in the 100-meter butterfly final and will bring home a silver medal for his home country of Canada.

It was just yesterday that Liendo appeared in his first Olympic Finals of his young career, taking part in the 50-meter freestyle final.

The 21-year-old finished with a time of 21.58 seconds, his fastest ever in the 50-meter freestyle, but it was not enough to make the podium as he finished in fourth by just two-hundredths of a second behind France’s Florent Manaudou (21.56 seconds).

Liendo swam well during the 100-meter butterfly semifinal, finishing in second (50.42 seconds) and securing a spot to compete for a medal in the final.

Looking at his 100-meter butterfly final, Liendo had the gold medal in his sights from the get-go. He was ahead of the pack for most of the race but it wasn’t until the final 10 meters that Kristóf Milák of Hungary pulled ahead and won it at the last second.

Milák finished with a time of 49.90 seconds while Liendo followed close behind with a final time of 49.99 seconds. Nonetheless, it was a terrific showing from the junior Florida Gator swimmer.

Liendo at the Paris Olympics

Liendo competed in 10 events and appeared in three finals during his Olympic debut, capping it off with a medal under his belt. Going up against the best swimmers in the world, the Canadian certainly proved that he fits right in with this elite group of athletes.

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