PARIS: Romanian teenager David Popovici hailed his "simple yet so beautiful" win in the Olympic men's 200m freestyle on Monday after edging out Britain's Matthew Richards by a fingertip.
The 19-year-old, who burst onto the scene by winning the 100m-200m freestyle double at the 2022 world championships, touched in 1min 44.72secs ahead of Richards (1:44.74).
American Luke Hobson (1:44.79) took bronze in a frantic finish.
It was Popovici's first Olympic medal after missing out in Tokyo where he came fourth, but he was in top form leading into Paris.
"I feel amazing, it's great to be here, so many Romanians in the crowd," he said.
"It's a dream come true. I don't think words can describe it. It's so simple, yet so beautiful."
He had to work hard for the win with Germany's Lukas Maertens, who claimed the 400m gold medal on Saturday, surging through the opening 150m in front.
But Popovici is a strong finisher and he clawed back to touch first in a thrilling finale.
"I knew going into that last turn that we were all together," said Richards.
"I could see that there was a big bunch of us and that it was going to be a real scrap down that last 50."
Richards said he thought he had won but he was happy with second place.
"Unfortunately it didn't quite go my way but at the same time, I'm an Olympic silver medallist," he said.
"It's huge for me, individually. I've got to learn from all of that."
Hobson claimed bronze for the first Olympic medal of his career.
"I couldn't be happier," said the 21-year-old.
"It was a really close race and I gave it everything I had in the last 50 metres."
Maertens ended in fifth with Britain's Tokyo silver medallist Duncan Scott coming fourth.--AFP