American Ryan Murphy secured the bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke final at the Olympics on Monday, but it was only the start of a memorable day for the 29-year-old swimmer in Paris.
After the medal ceremony, Murphy walked a victory lap around the pool, where his wife Bridget Konttinen waited with a sign that said, “Ryan, it’s a girl!”
“So I’m having a baby girl in January, that was her gender reveal to me,” Murphy said. “That was the first time I heard (the gender). Obviously, I knew she was pregnant.
“We both thought it was going to be a boy. Everything is going to be dedicated to that little girl.”
This is so much bigger than ANY medal. Congrats Murph!!@ryan_f_murphy pic.twitter.com/uLo5YuN7Ge
— Rowdy Gaines (@RowdyGaines) July 29, 2024
Konttinen rowed at Cal Berkley, where Murphy also swam.
With his podium placement Monday, Murphy became the second swimmer to ever win three Olympic medals in the 100-meter backstroke. He won gold in Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo 2021.
Murphy touched the wall Monday in 52.39 seconds behind Italy’s Thomas Ceccon, who won gold with a time of 52.00 seconds, and China’s Jiayu Xu, who won silver with a time of 52.32 seconds.
Ceccon holds the world record in the event (51.60 seconds), and Murphy claimed the Olympic record (51.85 seconds) at the 2016 Games.
“Murph is back on a podium at the Olympics!”
Ryan Murphy secures a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke with Italy’s Thomas Ceccon claiming gold! 👏#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/dQMO86dR0z
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
Murphy now has seven Olympic medals, and one baby girl on the way.
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(Photo: Grace Hollars / USA Today)
