NANTERRE, France -- The United States set two world records on the final night of swimming at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, winning the gold medal count over rival Australia and easing the sting of the first loss ever in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay.
Bobby Finke set a new standard in the 1,500 freestyle and the American women closed a thrilling nine days at La Defense Arena with another record in their 4x100 medley relay.
Finke was under world-record pace the entire race and really turned it on coming to the finish. He touched in 14 minutes, 30.67 seconds to break the record of 14.31.02 set by China's Sun Yang at the 2012 London Games.
"I really wanted to get on top of the podium again and hear the anthem all over again like I did for the first time in Tokyo," said Finke, who swept the 800 and 1,500 three years ago.
It was the only individual gold medal won by an American male during the Paris Games.
The silver went to Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri in 14.34.55, while race favorite Daniel Wiffen of Ireland couldn't follow up his triumph in the 800 freestyle. He was never a factor and settled for the bronze in 14:39.63, barely holding off Hungary's David Betlehem for the final spot on the podium.
Finke, who won the gold medal in the event in Tokyo, became the first male swimmer to go back-to-back in the grueling 30-lap event since Australia's Grant Hackett in 2000 and 2004 and the first American since Mike Burton in 1968 and 1972.
"It was a dream," Finke said.
In the women's 4x100-meter relay, Lilly King made up for a disappointing showing in her individual events by powering the American women's to the lead on the breaststroke segment.
Then it was Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske, two of the biggest U.S. stars at these games, bringing it home in 3 minutes, 49.63 seconds to break the record of 3:50.40 set by the U.S. at the 2019 world championships.
Regan Smith led off in the backstroke leg, earning a relay gold for the second night in a row after starting her Olympic career with five silvers and a bronze.
Australia, the defending Olympic champion, took the silver this time in 3:53.11. The bronze went to China in 3:53.23.
The United States finished with eight gold medals to edge out rival Australia, which won seven events. Still, it was the lowest victory total for the U.S. team since the 1988 Seoul Games, when they were beaten by a doping-tainted East German program.
The Americans finished with 28 total medals at these Games, two shy of their total three years ago in Tokyo.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.