Rio Olympics 2016: Oldest Anthony Ervin 50 free upset

00:13 - 13 August 2016

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Rio Olympics 2016: Oldest U.S. swimmer Anthony Ervin pulls upset with 50 freestyle gold by 0.01 seconds

After winning gold in Sydney 16 years ago, American veteran Anthony Ervin was back atop the podium thanks to his win in the 50 metre freestyle.

Ervin, 35, became the oldest individual gold medallist in Olympic swimming history as he topped the charts ahead of reigning world champion Florent Manaudou and Nathan Adrian in Rio on Friday.

With just under 0.50 seconds separating the eight-man final heat of the fastest event in swimming, the 50m free was anyone's race, but just 21.40 secs after the start it was a familiar face that came out on top.

Ervin used his fast reaction time and powerful tempo to earn his second medal of these Olympics however it was only by a hair as French star Manaudou earned silver just 0.01 seconds adrift.

Adrian, who anchored Team USA to a gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay and earned bronze in the 100m freestyle also finished third in the 50 with a time of 21.49 seconds.