How can I watch Daniel Wiffen? All you need to know as Northern Ireland's Olympic Games hero goes for second gold medal on Sunday
Having already secured one Olympic Games gold medal, Magheralin’s Daniel Wiffen will be seeking to double his tally on Sunday evening as he takes part in the 1500m final – and even has sights set on a world record.
Wiffen’s 800m success on Tuesday started what has been a memorable Games for Northern Ireland with Jack McMillan (swimming), Hannah Scott (rowing) and Rhys McClenaghan (gymnastics) also celebrating golden moments while Rebecca Shorten and Philip Doyle (both rowing) picked up silver and bronze respectively.
The 23-year-old produced the fastest heat time (14:40:34) in qualifying for the final and it’s expected Wiffen will be in the mix for yet another gold medal before he turns his attention to the open water 10km event.
Here is all you need to know ahead of the race:
HOW CAN I WATCH?
Coverage of Wiffen’s Olympic Games 1500m final will be broadcast across BBC, discovery+ and Eurosport.
WHAT TIME DOES IT START?
The 1500m final is due to get underway at 5:37pm (BST) inside Paris’ La Défense Arena with Wiffen swimming in lane four after qualifying fastest.
WHO CAN STOP HIM?
Wiffen is considered favourite for the 1500m final – status which was further underlined with his heat performance – and will be confident of adding a second gold medal.
Frenchman David Aubry finished third at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha as Wiffen stormed to gold, while Bobby Finke, who came second in Tuesday’s 800m final, won silver in the 1500m World Championships in 2023.
Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri won 1500m Olympic Games gold at Rio 2016 and is also a three-time world champion, but Wiffen got an early sense for his pace on Saturday after beating the 29-year-old by two seconds in the heat.
WHAT HAS DANIEL SAID?
On breaking Sun Yang’s world record which has stood since London 2012, Wiffen said: “I’ll give you a little insight...I am going to try and crack the world record. If it happens it happens and if it doesn’t it doesn’t but I think, personally, that it’s going to take that to win gold. We’ll see.”
On recovery plans, he added: “Just sleep a lot. That’s what the Chinese 100m freestyler said when he broke the world record and that’s exactly what I’m going to do…sleep a lot. I’ve had to park the 800, put it in the back of my mind, going into this race I’m looking at it as I haven’t won anything and going in with the same attitude as the 800m final.”
On Saturday’s heat performance, he reflected: “I’m not gonna lie, I felt like I was carrying a bit of fatigue still. I haven’t really slept properly since the 800m. I’m still getting eight hours but it’s not the perfect sleep that I want.
"The start was a bit uncomfortable and then I really settled into the pace and I was actually kind of surprised that I went that fast. It felt like a 14:50 swim but it was a 14:40, maybe my pace is a bit off in my head but we’ll see."