On a wild final night of swimming, U.S. sets two world records, edges Australia in gold-medal race

NANTERRE, France (AP) — The final night of swimming at the Paris Olympics stirred a wide range of emotions for an American team that no longer rules the world.

A world record from Bobby Finke.

Elation.

A historic loss that reignited gripes about Chinese doping.

Stunning.

Finally, another world record for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay team to edge out rival Australia for the top spot in the gold-medal table.

Whew!

“Just an awesome way to cap off the meet,” said Lilly King of the winning relay team, who joined her teammates in strolling around the deck holding up the stars and stripes as the crowd filed out La Defense Arena.

Finke set his new standard in the 1,500 freestyle before the American women closed a thrilling nine days of swimming in style.

The U.S. finished with eight gold medals to top Australia, which won seven events. Still, it was the lowest victory total for the Americans since the 1988 Seoul Games, when they were beaten by a doping-tainted East German program.

They finished with 28 medals overall, two shy of their total three years ago in Tokyo. In all, 13 countries won at least one gold — French star Léon Marchand was essentially a country unto himself — and 19 teams made the medal podium.

After a bevy of disappointing performances by some of its biggest names, the U.S. team was very much aware of its gold-medal battle with the Aussies.

“I knew Bobby had tied it up,” King said. “Bobby’s swim was electric. That was amazing. He definitely got my energy going for the relay. I was pumped to hopefully assert that lead and get the gold.”

That's just what she did.

King, whose third Olympics will be her last, made up for a disappointing showing in her individual events by powering to the lead on the breaststroke segment.

Then it was Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske, two of the biggest U.S. stars at these games, bringing it home in 3 minutes, 49.63 seconds to break the record of 3:50.40 set by the U.S. at the 2019 world championships.

Regan Smith led off in the backstroke leg, earning a relay gold for the second night in a row after starting her Olympic career with five silvers and a bronze.

Australia, the defending Olympic champion, took the silver this time in 3:53.11. The bronze went to China in 3:53.23.

Four world records were set during the meet, three of them by the U.S.

China stunningly won the gold in the men’s 4x100 medley relay, ending the American run of dominance that stretched back to the introduction of the event at the 1960 Rome Games.

The only time the U.S. didn’t win gold was in 1980, when it boycotted the Moscow Games.

The winning team included Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun, who were both among the nearly two dozen swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Games but were allowed to compete. The result stirred more hard feelings from other nations that feel the Chinese might have gotten away with cheating.

The real star of the Chinese team was Pan Zhanle, who had previously set a world record while winning the 100 free and powered away from American Hunter Armstrong on the anchor leg to touch in 3:27.46.

The Americans were left with the silver in 3:28.01, with France taking bronze in 3:28.38 to give Marchand his fifth medal of the games — four of them individual golds.

British star Adam Peaty, whose team barely missed out on a medal by finishing fourth, blasted a system that allowed the Chinese swimmers to compete at the Olympics.

“If you touch and you know you’re cheating, you’re not winning, right?” Peaty said. “As an honorable person, I mean, you should be out of the sport, but we know sport isn’t that simple.”

Peaty noted that after the initial revelations, additional reports surfaced of more positive tests in the Chinese program that went unpunished.

“I think we’ve got our faith in the system, but we also don’t,” he said. “Whoever’s in the race, I expect in my head that it has to be fair for them to be there. We did our best job as a team to do that, and it may have been (worthy of) a bronze. Who knows?”

Caeleb Dressel, who swam the butterfly leg for the Americans, said prior to the Olympics that he didn't have faith in the World Anti-Doping Agency or his sport's governing body, World Aquatics.

With a silver around his neck, he seemed resigned to the belief that nothing will change.

“I don’t work for WADA,” Dressel said. “There’s nothing I can do.”

Finke was under record pace the entire race and really turned it on coming to the finish. He touched in 14:30.67 to break the record of 14.31.02 set by China’s Sun Yang at the 2012 London Games.

The silver went to Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri in 14.34.55, while race favorite Daniel Wiffen of Ireland couldn’t follow up his triumph in the 800 freestyle. He was never a factor and settled for the bronze in 14:39.63, barely holding off Hungary’s David Betlehem for the final spot on the podium.

Finke became only the fourth swimmer to defend the men’s title in the longest event at the pool, and the first since Australia’s Grant Hackett in 2004.

“I really wanted to get on top of the podium again and I hear the anthem all over again like I did for the first time in Tokyo,” said Finke, who swept the 800 and 1,500 three years ago.

This time, a gold in the 1,500 to go with a silver in the 800 felt pretty good, too.

“It was a dream,” he said.

Sarah Sjöström of Sweden claimed her second gold medal of the Paris Olympics, furiously dashing from one end of the pool to the other to easily claim the 50 freestyle title.

The 30-year-old Sjöström, competing in her fifth Summer Games, had already won the 100 free — an event in which she holds the world record but only decided to swim at the urging of her coach.

She was more surprised than anyone with that victory, which had her overflowing with confidence heading into the 50 free.

Sjöström touched in 23.71, just shy of the world record of 23.61 she set at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka, Japan. In a race that’s usually decided by mere hundredths of a second, the Swedish star turned this into a relative blowout. She was fastest off the block and clearly in control by the midway point of the single lap, where the swimmers don't even bother coming up for air.

Meg Harris of Australia took the silver in 23.97, while the bronze went to China’s Zhang Yufei in 24.20. For Zhang, another of the swimmers implicated in the Chinese doping scandal, it was her fourth bronze of the games to go with a silver.

Walsh, in her first swim of a busy night, just missed out on a medal in 24.21.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

United States' Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Caeleb Dressel, and Hunter Armstrong pose for a phztowith their silver medals during the awards ceremony for the men's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Caeleb Dressel, and Hunter Armstrong celebrate winning the silver medal on the podium for the men's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan pours water from her shoe after she and her teammates plunged into the pool after they were awarded silver medals for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

United States' Torri Huske embraces teammates after winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

United States' gold medal winners Lilly King, Gretchen Walsha nd Torri Huske embrace on the podium during the awards ceremony for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' gold medalists pose for a photo on the podium with Australia's silver medalists and China's bronze medalists during the awards ceremony for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

China's Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Sun Jiajun, and Pan Zhanle pose for a photo with their gold medals on the podium for the men's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' gold medalists Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske pose for photo on the podium for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' Gretchen Walsh, from left, Lilly King, Regan Smith and Torri Huske celebrate winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States relay swim team celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Lilly King competes in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Gretchen Walsh, from left, Lilly King and Regan Smith celebrate winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' Regan Smith competes in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Gretchen Walsh, from left, Lilly King and Regan Smith celebrate winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Bobby Finke competes in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' Bobby Finke celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem looks at the board after winning the gold medal in the women's 50-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 50-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Bobby Finke competes in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' Nic Fink competes in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

United States' Bobby Finke competes in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

China's team celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

United States' Bobby Finke celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

China's swim relay team members celebrate winning the gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — United States President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs on American imports shocked governments and investors around the world, swiftly spurring both threats of retaliation and calls for negotiation as industries scrambled and global stocks tumbled.

China accused the U.S. of “bullying” and the European Union promised “robust” countermeasures, with French officials suggesting taxes to hit U.S. tech giants.

Yet the United Kingdom and Japan, among others, expressed hope for a deal with Trump and refrained from talk of retaliation against the world's biggest economy, fearing that slapping their own tariffs on American goods would only make things worse.

Trump said Wednesday that the import taxes, ranging from 10% to 49%, would reverse unfair treatment by American trading partners and draw factories and jobs back home.

“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”

Trump imposed a 34% levy on goods from China on top of an earlier 20% tariff, as well as a 20% tariff on the EU, 24% on Japan and 25% on South Korea.

China, a key exporter to the U.S. of everything from clothing to kitchenware, has already announced a raft of retaliatory measures expected to raise prices for U.S. consumers.

“There are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars,” China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. “It's clear to everyone that more and more countries are opposing the unilateral bullying actions of the U.S."

French President Emmanuel Macron met with representatives from key commercial sectors affected by the tariffs, like wines and spirits, cosmetics and aircraft, after urging businesses to suspend all investments in the U.S. “What would be the message of having major European players investing billions of euros in the American economy at a time when they’re hitting us?” Macron asked.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen denounced Trump's levies as a “major blow to the world economy” but held off announcing new countermeasures. She said the commission — which handles trade issues for the 27 EU member countries — was “always ready” to talk.

Analysts say there’s little to be gained from an all-out trade war, since higher tariffs can restrain growth and raise inflation.

“Europe will have to respond, but the paradox is that the EU would be better off doing nothing,” said Matteo Villa, a senior analyst at Italy’s Institute for International Political Studies.

“Trump seems to understand only the language of force, and this indicates the need for a strong and immediate response,” Villa said. “The hope, in Brussels, is that the response will be strong enough to induce Trump to negotiate and, soon, to backtrack.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Italian state TV on Thursday that she hoped for exactly that.

“We need to open an honest discussion on the matter with the Americans, with the goal — at least from my point of view— of removing tariffs, not multiplying them,’’ Meloni said.

Europe's strategy so far has been to limit retaliation to a few politically sensitive goods, like whiskey and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, in an attempt to push the U.S. to the negotiating table.

Economists say that Europe could broaden the trade war to the vast services sector by targeting Big Tech — a category more vulnerable to retaliation because the U.S. exports more than it imports.

The EU response could include a tax on U.S. digital giants such as Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, as French officials have recommended.

Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the EU "must show that we have strong muscles.” But he expressed no appetite for sparking an all-out trade war that could hobble the bloc's export-dependent economy.

“An agreement,” he said, "is best for prosperity in the U.S., for prosperity in Europe and for prosperity in the world.”

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said his government would react with “cool and calm heads," telling business leaders in London that he hoped to strike a trade deal with the U.S. that would see the tariffs rescinded.

“Nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest,” Starmer said.

Japan, the biggest foreign investor in the U.S. and its closest ally in Asia, plans to assess the impact of the tariffs, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, displaying a more conciliatory approach.

The round of tariffs jolted financial markets, with the U.S. Standard & Poors 500 off 3.7% in afternoon trading.

The STOXX Europe 600 index fell 2.7% and a 2.8% drop in Tokyo’s benchmark led losses in Asia. Oil prices sank more than $2 a barrel. Analysts fished for superlatives to convey the disruption to the global trading order as Trump's announcement overturned decades of efforts to lower tariffs through free trade agreements and negotiations.

“The magnitude of the rollout — both in scale and speed — wasn’t just aggressive; it was a full-throttle macro disruption,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said.

With an average tariff of 25%-30%, the highest since the early 20th century, the U.S. has initiated a “radical policy reordering,”said Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid.

The head of the World Trade Organization warned that U.S. protectionist measures will likely cause global trade volumes to drop by about 1% this year.

“I’m deeply concerned about this decline and the potential for escalation into a tariff war with a cycle of retaliatory measures that lead to further declines in trade,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Iweala-Okonjo.

The tariffs are not paid by the foreign countries they target, but by the U.S.-based companies that buy the goods to sell to Americans.

Now companies must decide whether to absorb the new taxes or pass them on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

The makers of Italy’s Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, for instance, say the new tariffs mean U.S. consumers will pay more for their crumbly pasta topping.

“Americans continued to choose us even when the price went up” after an earlier round of Trump tariffs in 2019, said Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Parmigian Reggiano Consortium. “Putting tariffs on a product like ours, only increases the price for American consumers, without protecting local producers."

The Consumer Brands Association, which represents big food companies like Coca-Cola and General Mills as well as consumer product makers like Procter & Gamble, warned that although its businesses make most of their goods in the U.S., they now face tariffs on critical ingredients — like wood pulp for toilet paper or cinnamon — that must be imported because of domestic scarcity.

“We encourage President Trump and his trade advisors to fine-tune their approach and exempt key ingredients and inputs in order to protect manufacturing jobs and prevent unnecessary inflation at the grocery store,” said Tom Madrecki, the association’s vice-president of supply chain resiliency.

A eye-popping 29% tariff imposed on Norfolk Island came as a shock to the remote South Pacific outpost's 2,000 inhabitants, particularly as its governing nation, Australia, was hit with a far lower tariff of 10%.

“To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, said Thursday. “We’re scratching our heads here.”

Vladimir Putin’s Russia, meanwhile, was left off Trump’s list.

AP journalists around the world contributed to this story.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin speaks during a joint press conference with EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath, not pictured, following their meeting at Government Buildings, over the 20% tariff on imports from the EU announced by US President Donald Trump, which will significantly impact Ireland, in Dublin, Thursday April 3, 2025. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)

EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath speaks during a joint press conference with Taoiseach Micheal Martin, not pictured, following their meeting at Government Buildings, over the 20% tariff on imports from the EU announced by US President Donald Trump, which will significantly impact Ireland, in Dublin, Thursday April 3, 2025. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)

Behind a television monitor showing U.S. President Donald Trump, the display board with the Dax curve shows falling share prices, in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday April 3, 2025, after the tariff package announced by U.S. President Trump has pushed share prices sharply into negative territory. (Arne Dedert/dpa via AP)

People walk past an electronic stock board showing the day's early loss of Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, April 3, 2025 in Tokyo.(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a screen as currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Containers are stacked at the Port of Los Angeles Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Cranes and shipping containers are seen at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Employee Jon Vazquez-DeAnda cuts keys for a customer at employee-owned Devon Hardware, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

This photo shows vehicles bound for foreign countries at a logistics center in Kawasaki near Tokyo, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Michi Ono/Kyodo News via AP)

President Donald Trump departs after signing an executive order at an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)