US women break world record in final swimming event of the Paris Olympics

NANTERRE, France — The United States set two world records on the final night of swimming at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, winning the gold-medal count over rival Australia and easing the sting of the first loss ever in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay.

Bobby Finke set a new standard in the 1,500 freestyle and the American women closed a thrilling nine days at La Defense Arena with another record in their 4x100 medley relay.

Lilly King made up for a disappointing showing in her individual events by powering the Americans to the lead on the breaststroke segment. Then it was Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske, two of the biggest U.S. stars at these games, bringing it home in 3 minutes, 49.63 seconds to break the record of 3:50.40 set by the U.S. at the 2019 world championships.

Regan Smith led off in the backstroke leg, finally earning her first career gold.

Four world records were set during the meet, three of them by the Americans.

The United States finished with eight gold medals to edge out rival Australia, which won seven events. Still, it was the lowest victory total for the U.S. team since the 1988 Seoul Games, when they were beaten by a doping-tainted East German program.

The Americans finished with 28 total medals at these Games, two shy of their total three years ago in Tokyo.