Bury
Bury-born athlete James Guy scoops Olympic gold medal in ‘stunning’ Team GB victory
The barnstorming performance saw Team GB bring home the nation's first 4x200 freestyle relay gold for over a century.
The Manc -
28th July 2021 
A Bury-born swimmer has grabbed an Olympic gold medal as the GB men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team scored an emotional, record-breaking victory in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Guy – originally from north Greater Manchester but educated at Forest Preparatory School in Timperley – was shown collapsing in tears of joy at the result; having added gold to a personal trophy cabinet already containing two silvers from Rio 2016.
Team GB’s Tokyo freestyle relay team featured Tom Dean and Duncan Scott (who took gold and silver respectively in Tuesday’s 200m freestyle), Matthew Richards and Guy himself.
The barnstorming performance resulted in a third swimming gold for the nation whilst also setting a new European record of 6:58.58.
The result also proved to be just 0.03 seconds off the world’s fastest time.
Speaking to the cameras after the victory, Guy told the BBC: “As a kid winning an Olympic gold medal was my absolute dream and to do it finally after 25 years is pretty emotional.
“With these four lads here we’ve got the best freestylers in the world.”
He said that getting a gold was “a dream come true”.
Team GB’s official Twitter account called it a “stunning, stunning swim”.
The last time Great Britain won a gold in the 4×200 freestyle relay was in London in 1908 – over 113 years ago.
Guy’s medal-winning performance marks another triumph for Greater Manchester-born athletes at the latest games – with Mancunian Georgia Taylor-Brown taking silver in the women’s triathlon earlier this week despite a flat tyre during the cycling section.
As of Wednesday morning (28 July), Team GB have 15 medals at Tokyo 2020 so far – including five gold, six silver, and four bronze.
Featured image: Olympics.com
