American champion Jason Lezak owns seven Olympic medals. He was the World’s No. 1 50-meter Freestyle sprinter in 2002, and the World’s No.1 100m freestyler in 2004.
Lezak earned his first Olympic gold medal at the 2000 Games in Sydney, and his last at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
At the China Games, Lezak recorded the fastest 100m split in history (46.06) in the 4x100m freestyle relay. The remarkable feat earned a gold medal for his American team, as well as an historic 8th gold medal for storied teammate Michael Phelps. Lezak’s anchor leg was nearly .6 (six tenths of a second) faster than the previous record, and his team set a new world record of 3:08:24, literally smashing the existing high-mark in the event by four seconds.
The 32-year old Lezak, oldest man and co-captain of the U.S. men’s 2008 swim team, also anchored the 4x100m Medley relay quartet to a world record-setting gold medal, 3:29.34. He took bronze honors in the 100m sprint event, his first individual medal in three Olympiads.
Eight years earlier, at the 2000 Games, the Southern Californian won his first Olympic gold medal in the 4x100m Medley Relay, plus a silver in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay.
2004 in Athens, Lezak again won gold in the Olympic 4x100m Medley Relay, anchoring his U.S. team to a 3:30.95 World record, topping the World mark set by the same foursome a year earlier, and bronze in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay.
Lezak’s distinguished competitive record includes gold medals at five World Championships–including two golds in 2003 and another pair in 2005––plus two silver medals and a bronze, as well as numerous United States championships and American records.
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