Noè Ponti is aiming for another Olympic medal on Saturday evening, his second. The man from Ticino qualifies for the final of the 100 m dolphin in a confident fifth place.
Ponti, who sensationally came third at the Olympics three years ago in Tokyo in his showpiece discipline, completed the two lane lengths in the Olympic pool in 50.60 seconds, five hundredths faster than in the preliminary heat in the morning.
The best time was set by Hungary's Kristof Milak, who swam in the same semi-final as Ponti and finished in 50.38. The American Caeleb Dressel, 2021 Olympic champion in the 100 m dolphin ahead of Milak, however, failed in 51.57. Half an hour earlier, Dressel had finished sixth in the 50 m crawl final.
The medals in the 100 m dolphin will be decided on Saturday evening at 8.30 pm. This is Ponti's second final in Paris after he had to settle for fifth place in the double distance on Wednesday.
SDA