Armagh swimmer Daniel Wiffen will be going home from the Olympics with another medal to his name, after winning bronze in the men’s 1500m freestyle event.
The Magheralin athlete, who was competing for Team Ireland, finished third in Sunday’s race in Paris, behind the USA’s Bobby Finke, who won Gold, and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, who claimed the Silver medal.
Wiffin’s second medal win followed last week’s triumph in the 800m freestyle event, in which he won Gold and became the first Olympic athlete from the north to do so since 1972, when Dame Mary Peters won the pentathlon in Munich.
The 23-year-old was also the first Team Ireland swimmer to bag Gold since 1996, and the first male to ever win an Olympic swimming medal for the country.
He also set a new Olympic record with his 800m finish time of 7:38.19.
Following Sunday’s event, Wiffen said the race “didn’t go his way”, adding: “But I’m happy, we’ve never had a medal before in this competition at the Olympics for men - to come away with two, I’m very happy.”
Hailing Wiffen’s latest win, the interim CEO of Sport NI, Richard Archibald, said: “We were thrilled when Daniel Wiffen ended a 36 year hiatus for Olympic gold for an athlete from Northern Ireland. So to watch him join Paddy Barnes in the ranks of double Olympic medalists from Northern Ireland is incredible.”
