Britain Win Gold in Swimming Relay, Just Miss World Record

Tom Dean of Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 200-meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tom Dean of Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 200-meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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Britain Win Gold in Swimming Relay, Just Miss World Record

Tom Dean of Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 200-meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tom Dean of Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 200-meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A British team spearheaded by Tom Dean and Duncan Scott stormed to victory in the men's Olympic 4x200m relay on Wednesday, narrowly missing the world record.

Led off by recently-crowned 200m champion Dean and brought home by Scott, they touched in 6min 58.58sec, just outside the 6:58.55 global mark held by the United States.

"I think this is really special, with those boys," Scott said. "We were so close to the world record in the end, if anything I'm a bit gutted."

It meant the British team, which featured James Guy and Matthew Richards on the middle legs, went one better than at Rio in 2016, when they came second, reported AFP.

"As a kid an Olympic gold medal was my absolute dream," said Guy. "To do it finally at 25 years old is pretty emotional. These four lads are the best freestylers in the world.

"Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Conor Dwyer did it in Rio and now we're the Olympic champions. That's just a dream come true."

Russia took silver in 7:01.81, with Australia claiming bronze in 7:01.84 after a sizzling final leg by Thomas Neill.

The United States missed out on a medal in the men's relay for the first time in Olympics history, on the back of claiming four golds in a row in the 200m.

They were without superstar Caeleb Dressel, who opted out to focus on his other events, and came fourth.

The Americans were in front after the opening 200m thanks to Kieran Smith, but they were quickly reeled in by the Brits, with Guy and Richards swimming powerful middle legs before handing over to Scott.



Liverpool Shines in Champions League, Dumping Real Madrid Down the Table

Liverpool manager Arne Slot gives the thumb up after the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, Britain, 27 November 2024. Liverpool won 2-0.  EPA/PETER POWELL
Liverpool manager Arne Slot gives the thumb up after the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, Britain, 27 November 2024. Liverpool won 2-0. EPA/PETER POWELL
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Liverpool Shines in Champions League, Dumping Real Madrid Down the Table

Liverpool manager Arne Slot gives the thumb up after the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, Britain, 27 November 2024. Liverpool won 2-0.  EPA/PETER POWELL
Liverpool manager Arne Slot gives the thumb up after the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, Britain, 27 November 2024. Liverpool won 2-0. EPA/PETER POWELL

Liverpool is 100% on top of the Champions League after dumping title holder Real Madrid into an almost unbelievable 24th place in the 36-team standings on Wednesday.
No one felt the embarrassment of Madrid’s 2-0 loss at Anfield more than Kylian Mbappé, the superstar added in the offseason by the storied club that also was European champion against Liverpool in the finals of 2022 and 2018.
Mbappé had a penalty saved in the second half and was earlier dumped on his behind by Conor Bradley’s superb tackle in an instant viral moment, The Associated Press reported.
Only Liverpool has started the new Champions League format with five wins and first-year coach Arne Slot's team is two points clear of Inter Milan. Barcelona is third, trailing Liverpool by three points.
Madrid is, remarkably, with three rounds left just one place above being eliminated. The top eight teams at the end of January go direct to the round of 16 in March, and teams placed from ninth to 24th enter a round of two-leg playoffs in February.
“(This) doesn’t change much, because even with a win it was going to be tough to secure a top-eight finish,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. ”It was a fair result."
Monaco missed a chance to go second in the table, giving up a lead playing with 10 men from the 58th minute in a 3-2 loss at home to Benfica. Swiss forward Zeki Amdouni scored the winning goal in the 88th.
Borussia Dortmund, the beaten finalist against Madrid in May, is up to fourth place after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. Champions League standout Jamie Gittens now has four goals in five games, curling a rising shot in the 41st to open the scoring in Croatia.
The best comeback was at PSV Eindhoven, where the home team trailed Shakhtar Donetsk by two goals in the 87th minute before a 3-2 win was sealed by United States forward Ricardo Pepi’s goal deep in stoppage time.
US defender Cameron Carter-Vickers scored an embarrassing own goal for Celtic — playing a no-look pass far beyond goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel — in a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge.
“One of those things,” Schmeichel said. “Cam gets pressed and he hasn’t heard me shout that I’m not in (goal).”
Congo teammates Ngal’Ayel Mukau and Silas impressed in wins for Lille and Red Star Belgrade.
Mukau scored twice in 12th-place Lille’s 2-1 win at Bologna and Silas leveled for Red Star in a 5-1 rout of Stuttgart, though he barely celebrated his goal. Silas is on loan with the Serbian champion from Stuttgart.
Aston Villa's 0-0 draw with Juventus was preserved by an excellent save by Emiliano Martinez, the World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper, diving low to push away a header from Francisco Conceição.
Bradley beats Mbappé Liverpool’s stand-in right back Bradley was a standout Wednesday, denying Mbappé at high speed in a signature defensive play in the 32nd.
The 21-year-old Northern Ireland defender, deputizing for fit-again Trent Alexander-Arnold, joined the attack in the 52nd to play a key pass returning the ball to Alexis Mac Allister who scored the opening goal.
After Mbappé’s penalty was pushed away by goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher in the 61st, Liverpool star Mo Salah missed with his spot-kick in the 70th, before substitute Cody Gakpo sealed the win with a header in the 77th.
Madrid now has lost three of five games after defeats at Lille and at home to AC Milan. The record 15-time European champion has another tough trip next, at fifth-place Atalanta on Dec. 10. On the same date, Liverpool is at 30th-place Girona and looks to be cruising into the round of 16.
“You know how special it is to play against a team that has won the Champions League so many times," Liverpool coach Slot said of Madrid. “They were a pain for Liverpool for many years too.”
First wins, first points Red Star Belgrade and Sturm Graz ended four-game losing runs to get their first points and wins.
Red Star rallied against Stuttgart after the German team led in the fifth minute. The 1991 European Cup winner’s goal to level the game in the 12th was scored by on-loan Silas. He held up his hands as if in apology as part of a low-key celebration.
Sturm Graz won 1-0 against Girona, the Spanish newcomer to European competitions. It was the Austrian champion’s first Champions League game since coach Christian Ilzer left to join Hoffenheim.