Anthony Ervin wins the men’s ‘splash and dash’ 50m freestyle Olympic title

Ervin, 35, beat a star-studded field in the 50-meter freestyle Friday night, winning with a time of 21.40.

After winning gold in Sydney 16 years ago, American veteran Anthony Ervin was back atop the podium thanks to his win in the 50 metre freestyle.

Completing a remarkable journey in the blink of an eye, the oldest member of the US swimming team touched first in the 50-meter freestyle, edging the defending Olympic champion, Florent Manaudou of France, by a mere hundredth of a second.

Florent Manaudou of France, who won the event in 2012, was 0.01 seconds behind Ervin for the silver.

Adrian, who anchored Team USA to a gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay and earned bronze in the 100m freestyle also finished third in the 50 with a time of 21.49 seconds.

Adrian will also be part of the US relay team for the 4x100m medley final on Saturday.

United States of America swimmer Anthony Ervin has described his victory in the men’s 50m freestyle as “almost absurd” after he became the oldest ever Olympic champion in the pool.