Olympic Swimming 2016: Men's 50M Freestyle Medal Winners, Times and Results

American Anthony Ervin won the gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, a remarkable 16 years after he won gold in the same event at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. 

Ervin, swimming for the United States in Lane 3, completed the furious sprint in 21.40 seconds. Florent Manaudou (France) came in second place, just one-hundredth of a second behind Ervin, while Nathan Adrian (United States) finished third.

USA Today's Nicole Auerbach noted Ervin made a bit of history with his swim:

At 35 years old, Ervin was the oldest swimmer in the pool by eight years, yet that didn't stop him from earning a spot on the podium. It's a remarkable improvement for Ervin, who finished fifth in the event at the 2012 London Games. 

Medal/Place	Swimmer	Country	Time (Seconds)
Gold	Anthony Ervin	United States	21.40
Silver	Florent Manaudou	France	21.41
Bronze	Nathan Adrian	United States	21.49
4th	Ben Proud	Great Britain	21.68
5th	Andrii Govorov	Ukraine	21.74
6th	Bruno Fratus	Brazil	21.79
6th	Bradley Tandy	South Africa	21.79
8th	Simonas Bilis	Lithuania	22.08

Manaudou, who won gold in this event in London, came into Friday's final as the favorite, posting the best semifinal time of 21.32 seconds.

The Frenchman got off the starting block well, surging toward the front, with South Africa's Brad Tandy coming on strong as well. However, Ervin made a brilliant push in the final 20 meters, narrowly out-touching Manaudou at the wall.

NBC Olympics showed a smiling Ervin after his stunning victory: 

Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde was amazed by the result: 

Think Progress' Judd Legum noted Ervin's latest Olympic gold medal won't be joining his oldest one in the trophy cabinet:

Replacing that medal apparently served as motivation for Ervin, per NBC Sports:

This is Ervin's second gold medal of the 2016 Summer Games. He was on hand for the United States' win in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay. For Adrian, it's his second bronze medal of the 2016 Summer Olympics after he came in third in the men's 100-meter freestyle Wednesday. 

Michael Phelps, 31 was the previous record holder as the oldest individual swimming gold medalist in Olympic history, a mark he set in the 200-meter butterfly on Tuesday. 

Age notwithstanding, Ervin's accomplishment is stunning considering his winding career path. After a brilliant start to his young career, Ervin retired in 2003, only to unretire eight years later to train for and eventually compete at the 2012 Games.

Four years later, he's atop the podium, with Manaudou and a United States teammate by his side.