Suffolk has its second Olympic medallist after swimmer Chris Walker-Hebborn claimed silver as part of the Team GB 4x100m individual medley quartet in Rio overnight.
And Walker-Hebborn, who went to school at King Edward’s in Bury St Edmunds, dedicated the medal to his father Andy, who was recently diagnosed with cancer and as a result his parents could not travel to Rio to watch him in action.
“This one is for my dad and it’s pretty special,” Walker-Hebborn, a former member of the Team Ipswich swimming squad, said.
“It’s been a tough few weeks. This was always going to be my best opportunity and these boys swam out of their skin and I left everything in the pool.”
He later tweeted: “It’s been emotional, but winning the silver with these guys was more than I had ever dreamed of. Thank you!”
Walker-Hebborn, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Duncan Scott finished in three minutes 29.24 seconds as Michael Phelps’ USA squad won in 3mins 27.95secs - a new Olympic record.
Britain were sixth following Walker-Hebborn’s backstroke leg, but a blistering breaststroke stint from Peaty - a split time of 56.59 - saw the fastest qualifiers surge into the lead.
Phelps overtook Guy on the butterfly leg, handing over to Nathan Adrian, who held off Scott to give Phelps a golden swansong. Bronze went to Australia.
Suffolk’s first Olympic medal came on Friday as rider Spencer Wilton took silver as part of the Team GB dressage squad.
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