USA swimmer Robert Finke’s split times highlight amazing comeback in 800 freestyle

Social media lit up Wednesday following Robert Finke’s stunning comeback win in the 800-meter freestyle race at the Tokyo Olympics.

In fourth place after 750 meters, Finke appeared to have no chance to win the gold medal.

That’s when Finke turned on the jets and pulled out an unlikely victory that earned him a gold medal.

Here is the finish of the race:

This photo illustrates just how far back Finke was on the final lap:

So how did Finke pull off that win? That’s a question he couldn’t answer.

“I had no idea,” Finke said, per the Washington Post. “Honestly.”

The splits show Finke swam the final 50 meters (26.39 second) of the race nearly 1 second faster than his opening 50 (27.23). He also improved his splits time during each of the final four legs of the race.

Instead of being more fatigued at the end of a long race, Finke got faster. And that’s why he’s a gold-medal winner.