Nicholas Pucci
At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics there is no reasonable reason to think that the Hungarian Tamas Darnyi cannot complete the gold double in the 200m and 400m medley, as he was already able to do four years earlier in Seoul.
Little more than 25 years old, the Magyar from Budapest dominates the specialty that engages the athletes in the four styles since the international debut at the 1985 European Championships held in Sofia, when he won the two races. After that, Darnyi looted trophies (European Championships 1987 and 1989), World Cups (1986 and 1991) and precisely the Olympics (1988) without any opponent being able to beat him. More, just at the last edition of the world championship, in Perh in 1991, Tamas signed the world record of the two distances, 1’59″36 and 4’12″36.
Darnyi, who was temporarily blinded by a snowball in his left eye shortly before the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics before recovering the vision, he then renounced the European Championships in Athens in the same 1991, guaranteeing the competition to finally be able to compete for the most precious metal (the Dane Lars Sorensen in the 200m and the blue Luca Sacchi in the 400m medley).
However, Darnyi is back in Barcelona and is the favorite of the two rounds. We start with the longest distanceJuly 27, at Bernat Picornell swimming poole in the heats the best time is set by the American Eric Namesniksilver at the 1991 World Championships in the two races, swimming in 4’17″75, with Darnyi who doesn’t waste energy despite finishing with the second time trial, 4’18″34. Among the contenders for a place on the podium are the German Patrick Kuhl, second at the European Championships in 1989 and 1991, as well as bronze in 1987, obviously Luca Sacchi and the other German Christian Gessner, who won gold and bronze at the Greek event, and Dave Wharton who was second in Seoul but then experienced a long period of obscurity before returning to a major event, while the Hungarian reserve, Attila Czene, as well as the young Dutchman Marcel Wouda, do not qualify for the decisive act. In the final it was Wharton who led the race in the first hundred meters of the butterfly, then taken over in the backstroke by his compatriot Namesnik. But the breaststroke, as well as the freestyle, allow Darnyi to make the difference and win with a time of 4’14″23, a new Olympic record, with Namesnik taking the silver and getting on the podium in the company of Luca Sacchiwho with the bronze medal at the Games confirms the victory at the European Championships.
Four days later it’s up to the short distance, the 200 medley, which this time rejects the ambitions of Sacchi and the European champion Sorensen in the battery, who remain out of the final like the Spanish Lopez-Zubero, the favorite of the house but a backstroke specialist. As already on the 400 Darnyi leaves the young Finnish talent Jani Sievinen with the satisfaction of setting the best time in heat, 2’01″18, right in front of the Hungarian who signs a promising 2’01″29. The Americans Burgess and Karnaugh, who lost his father right after the opening ceremony, aim for the podium, Attila Czene wants to forget the disappointment of the 400m and Christian Gessner, already fifth in the double distance, wants to get on the podium as he already did at the European Championships of Athens, second behind Sorensen. Effectively the final is exciting, with Darnyi who, as usual, is behind, even fourth after the first three stages, to then accelerate in freestyle and finally triumph with a time of 2’00″76, just ahead of Burgess, 2′ 00″97, with Czene finishing on the third step of the podium.
For Darnyi it’s the umpteenth double in the medleysfourth Olympic gold medal in one of the most extraordinary careers in the history of swimming and that he will finish the following year, at the 1993 European Championships in Sheffield, with the last gold medal, obviously in the 400 medley, but without then taking part in the 200. Yeah, why”time flies“, the competition is now ready to take over the baton and for the great magyar it is time to close the era as ruler.