Duncan Scott wins gold to claim Scotland's first medal of Paris Olympics and match Chris Hoy record

When Sir Chris Hoy bagged his seventh Olympic medal at London 2012, he must have thought his record haul for a Scottish athlete was as safe as the Mona Lisa.

But Duncan Scott etched his own name onto the canvas of Scotland’s sporting superstars by equalling that tally on a historic night at the La Defense Arena.

Scott delivered the first Scottish gold of Paris 2024 by anchoring Great Britain’s 4x200m freestyle relay team to a stunning victory.

Gold medallists James Guy, Tom Dean, Matthew Richards and Duncan Scott celebrate on the podium after the men's 4x200m freestyle relay swimming final. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)

The Alloa express held off USA’s Kieran Smith and sped home to equal Hoy’s record and bag Team GB’s first gold in the pool – and fourth overall – at the 2024 Games.

Five of Scott’s haul have come in relays and he was joined on the top step by teammates James Guy, Tom Dean and Matt Richards, the quartet touching the wall in a combined 6:59:43s to defend the title they won in Tokyo three years ago.

The win will reinvigorate Scott’s Olympic campaign after a painful pair of near-misses so far. He finished fifth in the 4x100m freestyle relay and then missed out on a medal in the individual 200m event by less than a tenth of a second.

But the 27-year-old looked in supreme form down the final leg to notch up a fourth gold of the Paris Games for Team GB, and the second of his career.

Scott has one event to come in the 200m individual medley, where he is expected to zoom past Hoy’s total and take the record outright. Not bad for a kid from Alloa.

His Olympic resume may lack the individual gold he badly craves – and with France superstar Leon Marchand the favourite for gold in the 200m medley, that is unlikely to change – but there is no disputing his place among the greats of British swimming.

“I’m nowhere near the level of athlete Chris Hoy has been, I think that’s taking away from what he’s achieved,” said Scott, who has won two golds to Hoy’s six.

“I don’t think I should ever be compared to Sir Chris Hoy. He’s well above what I’ve achieved. It’s pretty cool in terms of numbers but he’s got quite a few better colours than I do.

“I’ve had so many medals won by relay team-mates, I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done. They put me in a phenomenal position like they always do.”

This is Team GB’s first swimming gold of what has otherwise been a frustrating Games. Adam Peaty missed out on gold by just 0.02 seconds - and was then found to have Covid - while Richards suffered the same fate in the men’s 200m on Monday.

Scott finished fourth in that same race and, while the men’s 4x100m relay team were not expected to medal, it was another close shave, while Max Litchfield and Freya Colbett have also finished in the dreaded fourth.

But right from the starters gun, this was in the bag.

Guy, the 2015 200m world champion, swam the first leg and took an early lead at the 100m mark. He clocked 1:45.09 for his split for a lead of 0.46s over USA’s Luke Hobson.

However, Dean was quickly caught, and turned at the 150m mark down in fourth position. However, he timed his race perfectly and came roaring back down the final 50m to hand Richards a half-second lead.

Richards, swimming for the second time in the evening after his unsuccessful 100m semi-final, maintained that half-second advantage and let Scott do the rest.

With Smith in the next lane, Scott pulled away from the get-go in an ear-splitting atmoasphere. The lead grew to 0.85s by the 50m mark and 0.91s by 100m and, while Smith reduced the gap back to 0.85s for the last 50, Scott hit the after-burners.

His final time was 1:43:95s, 0.85s faster than anyone else – and ironically enough to have won individual gold on Monday.

Elsewhere, Team GB’s Anna Hopkin failed to make the women’s 100m final after a disappointing sixth-place finish in her heat.

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