Sarah Sjöström swam in 23.86 - a time so fast that no one in the final field had ever swum that fast before.
Until now at the Olympic Stadium in Paris.
Polish veteran Katarzyna Wasick, 34, clocked 23.84, setting a personal best by eleven hundredths.
She stole the gold from under Sjöström's nose by two hundredths.
Thus, there was no gold double like last time in Paris, at the 2024 Olympics.
Sara Curtis of Italy took bronze in 23.99, also a personal best.
A gold and a silver were the final results for Sjöström in her championship comeback after giving birth.
“Thought time would be enough”
It was Sarah Sjöström's 98th championship medal in her career and the 30th at the European Long Course Championships.
I thought maybe this time would be enough for a gold medal, but Wasick is absolutely fantastic and has been among the world elite for many years. The times in this final were World Cup and Olympic class and I gave birth a year ago, so my God, says the super Swede and continues:
I didn't think I could be at a European Championship. I swim better than I'm physically ready for. I'm not as fast and strong, I'm much weaker in the gym and in the water than I've been. I'm still building my body and am only two tenths above my best time.
Now the family is ready to return home and Sarah Sjöström will continue to train to get back into good shape.
Going home and exercising
The plan that she and coach Antonio Lutula set when they started in January this year after giving birth was that Sjöström would be physically and swimmingly fit by January 2027.
That plan is solid.
The idea is that she will compete much more sparingly, if at all, this fall and the focus will be on long-distance running, says Lutula.
Sjöström will not swim the short course World Championships in China in December, but the next championship will be the long course World Championships in Budapest next summer.
For me it's good to compete a little more than I've done, but not a lot more. That will be next year. I'll talk to "Toni" and see what the training plan will look like in the fall. I have the motivation to keep going and see what I can do. Wasick is a year older than me, so I might be at my best when I'm 34, says Sjöström, who turns 33 on Monday.
Facts: Sarah Sjöström
Born: August 17, 1993 (age 32).
Family: Married to Johan de Jong Skierus, son Adrian, 11 months.
Main qualifications:
Olympics (3 gold–2 silver–1 bronze): Gold in 100-meter butterfly 2016, 100-meter freestyle 2024, 50-meter freestyle 2024, silver in 200-meter freestyle 2016 and 50-meter freestyle 2021, bronze in 100-meter freestyle 2016.
World Championships (long course): 14 gold–8 silver–3 bronze.
European Championships (long course): 18 gold–8 silver–4 bronze.
World Championships (short course): 6 gold–4 silver–1 bronze.
European Championships (short course): 12 gold–13 silver–1 bronze.
Total: 53 gold–35 silver–10 bronze.
