Now Sarah Sjöström at least knows which two American women she must outperform in the pool to have a chance at the Olympic gold on 50 metres freestyle in Paris. Simone Manuel won the American qualification on 24.13, two hundredths of a second ahead of Gretchen Walsh.
Their times were nearly four tenths of a second slower than Sjöström's 23.75 from last weekend's competitions in Rome, but there is still over a month to go until the Olympics and much can happen with the current form.
Simone Manuel won gold on 100 metres and silver on 50 metres freestyle in the Olympics in Rio 2016 but could not live up to it in the Olympics in Tokyo 2021. In Tokyo, Sjöström took silver on 50 metres behind Australia's Emma McKeon and McKeon is one of the three Australian women who will be in Paris for the distance.
Gretchen Walsh, incidentally, broke Sarah Sjöström's long-standing world record on 100 metres butterfly in the Olympic qualification.
