Swimming: David Popovici, gold medalist at European Junior Championships in 100 m freestyle, with world record

Romanian athlete David Popovici, qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games, won the gold medal in the 100 m freestyle, on Thursday evening, at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Rome, with a new world record for juniors.

Popovici was timed in the final with a time of 47 sec 30/100, improving the performance he also recorded on Tuesday in the 4x100 m freestyle relay series, 47 sec 56/100.

David Popovici beat the British Edward Mildred, 48 sec 77/100, and the Polish Mateusz Chowaniec, 49 sec 37/100, in the final.

Also on Thursday, Denis Popescu qualified for the semifinals of the 100 m butterfly, with the 16th time (54 sec 70/100), but he did not manage to reach the final, being timed with 54 sec 33/100 - the 14th time.

In the 1,500 m freestyle final, Vlad Stancu placed 7th, in 15 minutes 29 seconds.

Romania (David Popovici, Mihai Gergely, Stefan Cozma and Patrick Dinu) won, on Tuesday, its first medal, silver in the men's 4x100 m freestyle relay.

Romania is represented by 11 swimmers at the European Junior Championships in Rome.