ASU, Canadian swimmer Ilya Kharun pulls off miraculous comeback, overtook 4 competitors in final stretch of 100m fly to win bronze

Down in seventh place, Kharun had a lot of ground to make up with Japan’s Naoki Mizunuma on his tale in last.

Knowing that he had to give it his all if he wanted a medal, Kharun passed almost every swimmer in front of him in the final stretch of the race to finish third with a time of 50.45 seconds. From third to eighth (last), there was a difference of just 66 milliseconds between each other.

Here are the results of the 200 fly:

1. Kristóf Milák (Hungary) – 49.90 | GOLD
2. Joshua Liendo (Canada) – 49.99 | SILVER
3. Ilya Kharun (Canada) – 50.45 | BRONZE
4. Noè Ponti (Switzerland) – 50.55
5. Maxime Grousset (France) – 50.75
6. Nyls Korstanje (Netherlands) – 50.83
7. Matthew Temple (Australia) – 51.10
8. Naoki Mizunuma (Japan) – 51.11

Kharun’s Canadian teammate Joshua Liendo took home silver (49.99) and Hungarian superstar Kristóf Milák was able to win gold just nine milliseconds ahead of Liendo, 49.90. Milák won silver and Kharun earned the bronze in the 200 fly last Wednesday, with Sun Devil phenom Léon Marchand (France) finishing first place to receive the third of his four gold medals at the 2024 Olympics.

For Milák, the 24-year-old had a comeback story of his own en route to Saturday’s win.

Before the return lap, Milák was fourth and needed a big push at the end since it was neck-and-neck with the rest of the swimmers. Setting himself up for success in the dying moments of the competition, Milák used his speed and strength on the turn to rally towards first place and claim the gold medal. This was Hungary’s third gold medal of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Kharun will be a sophomore at ASU for the 2024-25 season and will compete in butterfly and freestyle. With two medals for his home country of Canada, he will hope to carry that momentum into Arizona State’s first season in the Big 12 Conference.

When he was a freshman last year, Kharun was a two-time NCAA Champion when he won in the 400 medley relay and 200 fly as Arizona State went on to claim its first NCAA National Championship in program history. Kharun is also a six-time Pac-12 Champion in the 100 fly, 200 fly, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay, 200 free relay and 200 medley relay.