No Medal for Ponte | laRegione.ch

Noè Ponti finished the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne without a hoped-for high note.

After winning silver and bronze respectively in the 50m and 200m dolphin, the Ticino native finished fourth in the 100m, the same discipline in which he achieved the historic third place at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 21-year-old Swiss qualified for the final with second overall time and still second in the final run, stopping the clock at 49”25, finishing right at the foot of the podium.

The gold went to the South African Chad Le Clos (48”59), the silver to the Canadian Elia Kharon (49’03), while the bronze went to the German Marius Koch (49”12).

«Too bad, because the medal was on hand, – commented the speaker Ticino on the RSI microphones -. Especially after what I’ve done the past few days. Unfortunately, I missed the last 10 metres, which was blown. In short, there was no icing on the cake. Overall it was a great week, in the future we will have to do more to compete at the top even in the last round, an aspect I still miss a bit. Now, I need a little vacation to recharge for the new year, with the Fukuoka World Cup as my main goal.”

For his part, Antonio Dijakovic narrowly missed reaching the final of the 200-meter freestyle. The Zurich rider finished 10th with a time of 1’43″04. To find a place in the race for the medals, he had to set the Swiss record, of which he stayed just over half a second away.

The Swiss delegation returned home (without Noy Ponte, who stayed in Australia for the holidays) with two medals, those won by Gambaronesi, seven national records and participation in four finals.

Earl Warner

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