Athletes train their entire lives for the Olympics.
Qualifying for the Olympic trials is one thing. Making the team is another. Winning a medal? That elevates you to a whole other level.
Swimmer Chase Kalisz reached that level and then some by taking home the first gold medal for Team USA of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Chase Kalisz Wins First Gold Medal for Team USA
FIRST GOLD MEDAL FOR TEAM USA ?
Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland win the gold and silver medals in the men's 400m individual medley
(via @NBCOlympics) pic.twitter.com/aDaMLVhTY3
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 25, 2021
RELATED: Former Georgia Swimmer Chase Kalisz Eyes Gold at Tokyo Olympics
This is the first time in over 20 years Michael Phelps hasn't been in the pool for the Americans. Having the five-time Olympian on the team was as good as gold.
In the first post-Phelps Olympic games, the odds are still favorable to win it all, but not locked in. Kalisz, a University of Georgia alum, put the doubts to rest when he took home the gold medal in the men's 400-meter individual medley.
My swimming knowledge deteriorates every four years, so a refresher on the medley format was much needed
It goes butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
Kalisz is in or near the lead during the butterfly and backstroke. He pulled away from the rest of the field during the breaststroke leg.
Fellow UGA alum and U.S. teammate Jay Litherland moved like a torpedo in the freestyle leg to capture the silver medal over Australia's Brendan Smith.
What a moment for friends & UGA teammates.
Gold - Chase Kalisz
Silver - Jay Litherland#TeamUSA @UGASwimDive @11AliveNews @UGACoachBauerle @UGASports pic.twitter.com/vKOf4HHoxg— Cheryl Preheim (@CherylPreheim) July 25, 2021
Gold medal flex from @chasekalisz. #TokyoOlympicspic.twitter.com/ilw6kuCKXU
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) July 25, 2021
Kalisz added the first Olympic gold to Team USA's medal count and made Phelps, who was commentating on the race for NBC, smile. Kalisz and Phelps are former training partners and hail from Maryland. Phelps' protege captured not only the first U.S. gold, but also his first personal Olympic gold. He was the silver medalist in the same event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
Katie Ledecky, Ryan Lochte and Phelps have cemented themselves as mainstay Olympic athletes. Watch out for Chase Kalisz as the next star of U.S. swimming. This gold could be the first of many.
