Updated Jul 31, 2021 - Sports

U.S. wins men's 4x100-meter medley relay as Caeleb Dressel grabs 5th gold

Oriana González

USA's Ryan Murphy (L) andCaeleb Dressel celebrate winning the final of the men's 4x100m medley relay swimming event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games — USA's Ryan Murphy (L) and USA's Caeleb Dressel celebrate winning the final of the men's 4x100m medley relay swimming event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo on Sunday. Photo: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images

Team USA win the gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay, setting a new world record in the process on Sunday morning local time.

Of note: Caeleb Dressel won his fifth Tokyo Games gold medal during the event— becoming the fifth American to do so after speedskater Eric Heiden and swimmers Mark Spitz, Matt Biondi and Michael Phelps, who achieved the feat three times.

Driving the news: Dressel swam the butterfly leg as he, Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew and Zach Apple swam the race in 3 minutes, 26.78 seconds to smash a 12-year-old record by .50 seconds.

In the women's 4×100m medley relay, Australia won gold, the U.S. silver and Canada bronze.

The big picture: The men's U.S. also won gold in the 2016 Games, breaking an Olympic record at the time. The team was comprised Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, Michael Phelps and Nathan Adrian.

Murphy broke the world record for 100-meter backstroke during the relay.
Dressel had already earned four additional Olympic gold medals in Tokyo, three in individual events and a fourth in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay.
He now has a total of seven Olympic gold medals, including two he won in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Go deeper: Full Axios Olympics coverage

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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U.S. wins men's 4x100-meter medley relay as Caeleb Dressel grabs 5th gold

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