It’s been just two years since Ilya Kharun jumped into his first major international swim meet.
Competing in the short course World Swimming Championships (25m) in December 2022, Kharun captured silver in the 100m butterfly while also setting a world junior record in the event. At the same meet, he set Canadian records in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly – which was a sign of things to come.
On the sport’s biggest stage Wednesday at Paris 2024, the 19-year-old broke his own Canadian record in the 200m butterfly to capture an Olympic bronze medal.
READ: Kharun swims to bronze for Canada’s first ever Olympic podium in men’s 200m butterfly
“It’s just so great. I’m very, very happy that I finally got it,” Kharun said of his medal. “It’s everything that an athlete dreams of. I’m just very happy that I could be in this moment to actually get what I wanted.”
Kharun’s time of 1:52.80 was over a second faster (0:01.02) than the national record he set twice at last year’s World Aquatics Championships. He finished in fourth-place at those worlds, just 0.16 seconds off a podium position. This time, he has his medal, standing on the podium beside two of the sport’s best swimmers in France’s Leon Marchand and Hungary’s Kristóf Milák.
Milák got off to a strong start in the final but Marchand, swimming in front of an electric home crowd, pulled ahead in the final 50m. Kharun, the youngest swimmer in the final, sat in third for the majority of the race and built some space between himself and fourth-place finisher Krzysztof Chmielewski of Poland in the final lap.
Kharun, making his first appearance at the Olympic Games, has had a strong showing in Paris and the bronze medal performance didn’t come as a surprise. His time of 1:54.01 was the third fastest in Tuesday’s semifinals. Only Milák and Marchand had better times.
Kharun also impressed in Tuesday’s morning heats to secure a semifinal spot, winning his heat with a time of 1:54.06 – which ended up being the second fastest in qualifying. Only Milák was faster at 1:53.92.
The Olympic bronze highlights an impressive couple years for Kharun. Named Swimming Canada’s Breakout Performer of the Year in 2023, he made his first trip to the Canadian Swimming Trials that year, winning the 200m butterfly. A few months ago he helped Arizona State win the 2024 NCAA Division I men’s swimming and diving championships, claiming gold in the the 200-yard butterfly.
Also a member of that championship-winning Arizona State team? Leon Marchand.
“Before getting our medals, he just said that he’s very proud of me,” Kharun said of his collegiate teammate. “I told him that I’m very proud of him as well. Everything he’s accomplished is absolutely crazy. It’s so great that I can call him my friend and my teammate.”
While the bronze medal win was a historic performance for Kharun personally, it was also a historic moment for the Canadian men’s program. No Canadian man had ever won an Olympic medal in the 200m butterfly and it was the first swimming medal of any kind for the men’s side since London 2012.
Canada’s Summer McIntosh swam immediately after the men’s 200m butterfly competition and was excited to see Kharun reach the podium.
“I was really pumped after watching him get that bronze,” McIntosh told CBC. “He’s trained so hard for that and it’s great to see the Canadian men’s side swimming really, really strong and keep pushing the momentum forward heading into the next Games.”
Kharun has interesting Canadian roots. His parents were acrobats for Cirque du Soleil and travelled the world performing. They were in Montreal when he was born before the family moved to Las Vegas. He couldn’t be happier to be wearing the red and white in Paris.
“It’s such a great honour,” Kharun said. “I’m really happy that I could represent Canada.
“I’m so happy that I can bring my team another medal.”
