Dan Wiffen makes history with Olympic gold

Daniel Wiffen has become the first athlete from Northern Ireland to win an Olympic gold medal in 36 years.

Dan, who represents Ireland at the Games, won a thrilling 800m freestyle final in Paris.

The 23-year-old also set an Olympic record with his super-fast finish.

There were tears in his eyes as he received his gold medal at the end of the arena where his family and coaches watched with pride.

After promising not to return home from Paris without a medal Dan said: "I was writing 'I'm going into the history books', and that's exactly what I've done."

He becomes the first athlete from Northern Ireland to triumph since Stephen Martin and Jimmy Kirkwood with GB's hockey team in 1988.

And the first individual gold medallist since Lady Mary Peters won the pentathlon at the 1972 Games.

Dan also becomes the first Olympian from Northern Ireland to win Olympic gold for Ireland and the first Olympian from Team Ireland to win a gold medal in swimming since 1996.