World Aquatics Championships 2024: GB's Freya Colbert wins medley gold on final day
- Published
Teenager Freya Colbert is a world, European and Commonwealth medallist
Great Britain's Freya Colbert claimed a stunning gold in the women's 400m medley on the final day of the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.
Colbert, 19, produced a strong final freestyle leg to earn her first global title in four minutes 37.14 seconds.
That came after Max Litchfield took silver in the men's final in 4:10.40.
Britain finished with a total of 18 medals, including four golds, to come fifth in the medal table as attention turns towards the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Colbert delivered the perfect end to GB's championships with her gold, moving past Israel's runner-up Anastasia Gorbenko (4:37.36) - later booed by the crowd as she was being interviewed - and Italy's bronze medallist Sara Franceschi (4:37.86) in the last 100m.
That was Colbert's second medal in Qatar, having been part of GB's silver medal-winning women's 4x200m freestyle quartet.
And it followed 28-year-old Litchfield's silver behind New Zealand's Lewis Clareburt (4:09.72), with Japan's Daiya Seto (4:12.51) taking bronze in the men's final.
Also on Sunday, Anna Hopkin placed sixth in the women's 50m freestyle final in 24.51 seconds, as Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom took gold in 23.69 secs ahead of the United States' Kate Douglass.
How GB won their 18 medals at the World Aquatics Championships
Gold (four)
Tom Daley, Daniel Goodfellow, Scarlett Jensen and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix - mixed 3m and 10m team (diving)
Freya Colbert - women's 400m medley (swimming)
Laura Stephens - women's 200m butterfly (swimming)
Aiden Heslop - men's 27m (high diving)
Silver (five)
Grace Reid - women's 1m springboard (diving)
Tom Daley and Noah Williams - men's 10m synchronised (diving)
Max Litchfield - men's 400m medley (swimming)
Freya Colbert, Abbie Wood, Lucy Hope and Medi Harris - women's 4x200m freestyle relay (swimming)
Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe - women's duet technical (artistic swimming)
Bronze (nine)
Ross Haslam - men's 1m springboard (diving)
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix - women's 10m platform (diving)
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson - women's 10m synchronised (diving)
Scarlett Mew Jensen and Yasmin Harper - women's 3m synchronised (diving)
Adam Peaty - men's 100m breaststroke (swimming)
Benjamin Proud - men's 50m freestyle (swimming)
Medi Harris, Adam Peaty, Matthew Richards and Anna Hopkin - mixed 4x100m medley relay (swimming)
Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe - women's duet free (artistic swimming)
Hector Pardoe - men's 10km (open water swimming)
How are GB's stars shaping up for Paris?
For GB's swimmers, maiden world titles for Colbert and Laura Stephens, in the women's 200m butterfly, were undoubted highlights.
Stephens, 24, became Britain's first individual female world champion since Rebecca Adlington in 2011 with her victory on Thursday, before Colbert became the second in four days.
There were plenty of positives elsewhere, as three-time Olympic champion Adam Peaty returned to the podium in his first appearance at a Worlds in five years after taking breaks from the sport because of mental health issues.
The 29-year-old took bronze in the men's 100m breaststroke and helped GB to another in the 4x100m mixed medley relay, while he just missed out on another podium when coming fourth in the 50m breaststroke.
Peaty, the world record holder in the 50m event, became the first British swimmer to retain an Olympic title over 100m in Tokyo, where he was also part of GB's victorious - and world record-breaking - 4x100m mixed medley team.
Making his international comeback, Tom Daley put himself in line for a fifth Olympic Games as he and partner Noah Williams took men's 10m synchronised silver to secure GB's place in the event in Paris.
Daley, 29, stepped away from the sport in August 2021 after winning gold in that event in Tokyo.
On his return to the global stage he helped GB win team gold before he and Williams achieved the top-four finish GB required to earn an Olympic quota place.
A fellow member of that team gold, 19-year-old Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix starred with three medals, winning bronze in the individual and synchronised 10m events.
Meanwhile, artistic swimmers Izzy Thorpe and Kate Shortman shone - and sealed an Olympic spot - during a championships in which the 22-year-olds became the first British pair to win a duet world medal with technical silver, before clinching free duet bronze.
'GB swimmers impress as Peaty takes big step'
Analysis by former world champion Karen Pickering
It has been an interesting World Championships, with many athletes out to get valuable race experience and taking the opportunity to do multiple races.
That includes Duncan Scott, who gave himself a really tough schedule, but he managed to qualify the men's 4x100m freestyle team for the Olympics with a top-four finish in the final. That was really important for Great Britain. It represents a massive opportunity for a medal in Paris.
It was really great to see Adam Peaty back racing and on the podium. That was a big step for him.
Peaty's biggest rival, Qin Haiyang, wasn't in Doha but the quality of men's breaststroke swimming is such that it is always going to be a tough race. He handled it all really well.
Laura Stephens' gold was unexpected but she has always had real potential. It was a good time and that will give her such a boost heading towards Paris.
There were impressive results for GB and it was really good race practice, with not long to wait until the Olympic trials in April.
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