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Olympic Games in Tokyo

Russian swimmer proud of historic success in American-dominated event

This is Russia’s first Olympic gold in swimming since 1996, when Alexander Popov won the men’s 50m and 100m freestyle events and Denis Pankratov came first in the men’s 100m and 200m butterfly events

TOKYO, July 27. /TASS/. Russian swimmers managed to clinch the gold and silver in the backstroke event dominated by the Americans, which makes their achievement a historic success, Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov told reporters.

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‘Historic result’: Sports minister lauds Russian swimmers’ Olympic medal wins

Earlier on Tuesday, Rylov won gold in the men’s 100m backstroke at the Tokyo Olympics. Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov came in second.

"It’s cool that we took the two top spots. The Americans never lost the backstroke event before and here we are, depriving them of the first two spots. The world record still stands, but it can be beaten, we’ll keep working on that,"Rylov said. "I will also compete in the 200 meters, so the Olympics aren’t over for me yet,"he emphasized.

This is Russia’s first Olympic gold in swimming since 1996, when Alexander Popov won the men’s 50m and 100m freestyle events and Denis Pankratov came first in the men’s 100m and 200m butterfly events.

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