Ilya Kharun has become the first Canadian man to win an Olympic medal in swimming since London 2012.
The 19-year-old won bronze in the men’s 200m butterfly at Paris 2024 for Canada’s first ever Olympic medal in the event. He finished in 1:52.80, which knocked a second off his Canadian record. France’s Leon Marchand won the gold medal in an Olympic record time of 1:52.21 after passing Hungary’s Kristof Milak in the closing metres of the race.
Kharun had qualified for the final with the third-fastest time in the semifinals behind Milak and Marchand. In the final, he was third at each touch of the wall, trailing just behind the two leaders for the first 150 metres before they pulled away in the home stretch.
Kharun has been on the rise since making his international debut at the short course World Swimming Championships (25m) in 2022 where he won silver in the 100m butterfly. In his first appearance at the World Aquatics Championships in 2023, he finished fourth in the 200m butterfly, which is where he had set his previous national record.
Canada won six medals in swimming at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, but they were all in women’s events. It was 12 years ago that Canada last had male pool swimmers stand on an Olympic podium, when Ryan Cochrane won 1500m silver and Brent Hayden won 100m freestyle bronze.
