Was the Great Wall of China really this tall... US Men's Mixed Doubles Team's 64-Year Undefeated Streak Ends [Paris Olympics]

Achieved an Unprecedented 10 Consecutive Wins Until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
First Defeat Since the Event's Inception in 1960

The U.S. men's medley relay team, nicknamed 'UNDEFEATED' for never having lost a race, experienced defeat for the first time in history. On the 5th (Korean time) at the La D?fense swimming pool in Paris, France, during the 2024 Paris Olympic swimming men's medley relay 400m final, the Chinese team composed of backstroke swimmer Xu Jiayu, breaststroke swimmer Qin Haiyang, butterfly swimmer Sun Jiajun, and freestyle swimmer Pan Zhanle touched the pad first with a time of 3 minutes 27.46 seconds.

Since the inception of this event, the US mixed relay team, which had boasted an "undefeated myth," was defeated for the first time in its 64-year history. On this day, US swimmers Ryan Murphy, Nick Fink, Caeleb Dressel, and Hunter Armstrong finished the race in 3 minutes 28.01 seconds, 0.55 seconds slower than China.
[Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

The men's medley relay 400m became an official Olympic event for the first time at the 1960 Rome Olympics. The U.S. achieved five consecutive wins in this event from the Rome Games through the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The U.S. team did not participate in the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to political issues related to the Cold War. At Moscow, Australia took the gold medal in the men's medley relay 400m. Afterward, the U.S. secured an impressive 10 consecutive wins in the men's medley relay 400m from the 1984 Los Angeles Games through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.

Since the inception of this event, the U.S. medley relay team, boasting an 'undefeated legend,' was defeated for the first time in its 64-year history. The U.S. representatives on the day?Ryan Murphy, Nick Fink, Caleb Dressel, and Hunter Armstrong?finished the race in 3 minutes 28.01 seconds, 0.55 seconds slower than China. China stopped the U.S. men's medley relay 400m team from achieving an unprecedented 11 consecutive Olympic wins.

With this, the only remaining challenge for the longest Olympic winning streak is the South Korean women's archery team in the team event. The Korean team won the gold medal again in the women's archery team event at this Games, achieving 10 consecutive wins since the event was first introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. If they win gold again at the 2028 LA Games, they will achieve the world's first 11 consecutive wins.