By Paul Eddison at Paris La Défense Arena

Ben Proud’s agonising wait for an Olympic medal came to a close in 21.30 seconds of ferocious freestyle as he claimed a heart-warming silver medal.

The fastest qualifier in the final of the men’s 50m freestyle, Proud was desperately close to opening his Olympic account with gold, touched out by Australian pre-race favourite Cameron McEvoy by five hundredths of a second.

But for Proud, this silver might as well have been gold. In Rio he was fourth in this event, then after a disastrous build-up to Tokyo, he was down to fifth.

Having contemplated retirement in 2022, the Plymouth swimmer overhauled his entire training programme, and the emotions were clearly visible as that decision paid off.

He said: “Three years ago I burst into tears. I couldn’t speak about it. That was the best thing I went through because I hadn’t experienced that, I wouldn't have experienced these past three years which have been the highest of highs and lowest of lows.

“Back in 2022, I hit my rock bottom and had to crack on and deal with it. It led me to finding great balance with my swimming, my lifestyle, my coaches and I feel this time round I’ve definitely feel like I did what I wanted to do.

“Point zero five of a second would have been a very different change but to be second behind Cam seems like the most fitting thing.”

Talking of fitting, the third man on the podium was Frenchman Florent Manaudou, a very popular figure with the home crowd, but also a long-time training partner of Proud.

The pair exchanged a hug at the end of the race, with Proud’s first Olympic medal, and Manaudou’s fourth in a row in this event, both coming after difficult journeys to Paris.

Proud, one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, added: “The cherry on top of the podium, to share the podium with Florent - we share the same coach. James (Gibson) has looked out for us both these past two years, longer than that, so huge credit to him.

“We joked about it a long time ago when expectations were so far off what they are now. I find it phenomenal how he can achieve such a huge feat. For him to get on the podium at his fourth consecutive Games in the 50m freestyle is phenomenal.”

Proud has waited a long time for this moment. But having finally completed his set of major medals, he was able to celebrate in style with a good friend.

National Lottery players raise more than £30million a week for Good Causes including vital funding into sport – from grassroots to elite. To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk