Matt Richards’ viral reaction after narrowly missing out on Olympic gold

British swimmer Matt Richards was left stunned after discovering that he had been beaten to the finish line in a dramatic final of the men’s 200m freestyle.

The Team GB athlete was tipped for the podium ahead of the Olympics but struggled in qualifying, landing himself in lane one for the final. But from that disadvantaged position he battled back and found himself in contention for a gold on the final stretch.

The 21-year-old ended up with a silver medal, just 0.02 second behind Romania’s David Popovici. To lose by such a narrow margin is painful for any athlete, but Richards’ level-headed response when asked about it post-race drew plaudits online.

“I thought I had got it, it felt as if I had touched it first. The time says differently,” Richards told BBC Sport. “It is not a sport that is up for debate, it is black and white. It wasn’t my best finish, I would be lying if I said it was fantastic. We move on, we get better and try to get it next time.”

The 21-year-old’s silver medal also surprised television pundit Adrian Moorhouse, who picked up the 100m backstroke gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games.

“I think David Popovici thought he had lost it there, when he went through the turn he just had to dig deep,” Moorhouse said. “Matt Richards had an excellent race, did everything he could have done, lost out at the very last.”

Despite that agonising miss, Richards has since picked up his first Olympic gold medal. He was part of the British 4x400m freestyle team that finished first on Tuesday, Richards joined at the podium by James Guy, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott.