Bobby Finke has a major reason to be proud. He won two gold medals at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games for Team USA. Digital Journal has the recap.
Finke finished in first place in the men’s 800 meter freestyle, taking home the gold in a time of 7:41.87 at his first-ever Olympic Games. While he was behind for much of the race, he was able to make his move in the final lap, which ultimately helped him with the race. He proved to be the epitome of resilience and perseverance.
For the second straight race, Finke was able to obliterate the field in the closing lengths of the race to win the 1,500 meter freestyle final, which earned him his second gold medal at the Olympic Games.
“I came in trying to medal,” Finke said. “I knew that the competition was really tough. Those guys have been there for years now, especially [Gregorio] Paltrinieri. I’ve looked up to them ever since I first saw them swim. To be able to race with them is a big honor.”
“I saw how all three of us [Finke, Romanchuk, and Wellbrock] were kind of neck and neck,” Finke said. “I knew from my 800 that I had the ability to switch gears for the last 50. I was trying to just gain confidence from that last, I think 300, really to just try and hold on and sprint my butt off at the end.”
Katie Ledecky and Bobby Finke won gold medals for Team USA in both the men’s 800 meter freestyle and the 1,500 meter freestyle finals respectively.
A 21-year-old Olympian, Finke trains at the University of Florida as part of the “Florida Gators.”
“For myself, I didn’t know I had these swims in me. I’ve just gained a lot of confidence with coach [Anthony] Nesty, especially being here,” he said. “Even during the training trip, I was having some of the best practices of my life. It gave me a huge confidence boost going into this meet and then when I noticed during the 800 [freestyle] prelims that I was still hanging with the guys, I was just trying to ride the wave and have fun.”
Congratulations once again to Bobby Finke on these tremendous accomplishments.
To learn more about Olympian Bobby Finke, follow him on Instagram.
