Switzerland wins 200th medal at the Summer Olympics

Jérémy Desplanches poses with his bronze medal at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Friday Keystone / Patrick B. Kraemer

Swimmer Jérémy Desplanches has won bronze in the 200m medley, giving Switzerland its ninth medal at the Tokyo Olympics, its first swimming medal since 1984 and the 200^th podium in its history at the Summer Games.

Desplanches, 26, knew he would have to break his Swiss record to reach the podium on Friday – which he did, beating Japan’s Daiya Seto by just 0.05 seconds. “I couldn’t see anything at the end, it was hard,” he said.

His medal is doubly historic. It ensures that Switzerland has 200 podium finishes in its history at the Summer Games, after Belinda Bencic on Thursday qualified for the women’s tennis singles final and (with Viktorija Golubic) for the doubles final, guaranteeing two more medals.

What’s more, it’s only the second medal ever won by a Swiss swimmer, after Etienne Dagon’s bronze in the 200m breaststroke in 1984.

Best and worst hauls

The Swiss have so far amassed nine medals in Tokyo – one gold, three silver, three bronze and the two guaranteed tennis medals – beating the seven from the Rio Games in 2016. Can they hit double figures, which they haven’t done since 1952 when they won 14 in Helsinki?

However, that’s still some way off Switzerland’s record haul of 25 medals at the 1924 Games in Paris, followed by 20 medals in London in 1948.

Switzerland’s silver-medal-winning football team at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. They lost 3-0 to Uruguay in the final. Keystone / Str

And the Games that Switzerland would like to forget? That would be Barcelona in 1992, when 102 athletes in 80 events managed just one medal between them (admittedly a gold – Marc Rosset in tennis).