Ryan Murphy needed a medal Monday to begin his goal of making Olympic history in swimming -- and he got it.
Murphy scored bronze in the men's 100-meter backstroke after taking an early lead in the race.
Murphy is aiming to do something no other male swimmer has ever done in the Olympics. He is trying to become the first male swimmer to win medals in three consecutive Olympics in both the 100m backstroke and the 200m backstroke.
In order to do it, he needed the medal Monday, which was a historic feat in and of itself.
Murphy's three-peat in the men's 100-meter backstroke makes him the first man to win a medal in the event in three straight Olympics since 1972. He won bronze in 2021 and gold in 2016.
If he wins a medal in the 200-meter later on in the Games, that would be another three peat and a first in Olympics history - a goal Murphy entered the Olympics chasing.
Murphy, a Palos Heights native, now has seven total medals stretched across three Olympics.
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He’ll start his road toward getting into the 200m backstroke final with his preliminary heat race on Wednesday, with the starting gun scheduled to be fired at 4:33 a.m. CT.
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