The ​​Paris La Défense Arena was shaking at the foundations as crowds came to see French hero Leon Marchand chase gold medals in the 200m Butterfly and 200m Breastroke.

Before he hit the water, the best female sprinters in the world lined up to start proceedings in the 100m Freestyle. 

The Dolphins had two strong plays, with Mollie the world champion and 200m Freestyle Olympic champion and Shayna putting together an impressive series of swims to contest her maiden Olympic final.

From the moment the starter sent them off, the race had a different complexion. 

American Torri Huske, already the Olympic champion in the 100m Butterfly, went like a rocket down her outside lane, while Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey set the pace in the middle lanes with Mollie and Shayna on either side.

The early pace was too hot for Mollie; she turned in seventh and needed to call on her customary backend burst if she wanted to feature in the finish. Shayna was fifth and well placed to make a move on the second lap.

But nobody was watching Sjostrom in lane two.

The 30-year-old unleashed a monster split of 26.90s in the second 50m to win an emotional gold in 52.16s, some seven years after she set the world record. 

Her Tokyo Games were in doubt when she broke her elbow 200 days out and required surgery but still managed to win silver in the 50m Freestyle.

Huske (52.29s) took silver and Haughey bronze (52.33s), with Mollie in fourth in a time of 52.34s - just 0.01 of a second out of the medals. Shayna was fifth in 52.72s and still has the 50m Freestyle to go in her individual program, as well as a 4x200m Freestyle Relay swim.

Mollie already has a pair of gold medals with victory in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay and 200m Freestyle but said she hadn’t been able to sleep since the emotional heights she hit in the opening few days of racing.

“I was really nervous coming into this, I hadn’t had much sleep in the past few days. I tried really hard to manage myself and get up for this,” Mollie said.

“I knew it was going to be a tough race, we are all very close. To be honest, I’m happy with it. It’s not a great time for me, I expected a lot more but at the end of the day, I just have to suck it up and wait another four years.”

Shayna spent two years out of the sport for an anti-doping violation and was thrilled to make her first individual Olympic final. 

“I came into this with a positive mindset. I’m quite emotional after what I’ve just achieved, I’m proud of myself for representing my country,” Shayna said.

“People always look at the outcomes and don’t focus on the moment. I just really wanted to walk out, soak up the crowd, enjoy my family in the stands, my partner Joel is in the stands and even Mrs (Gina) Rinehart is out here supporting us.

“I’m just trying to absorb the fact that I’m an Olympian, a couple of years ago I never thought that was possible. To be here, standing up there for my country and knowing everyone back home is supporting us, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Moesha Johnson was the other Australian woman in finals action, finishing sixth in 16:02.70 in the 1500m Freestyle. The gold medal result was no surprise as American great Katie Ledecky added a seventh individual gold medal to her collection.

Elizabeth Dekkers and Abbey Connor both booked lanes in the 200m Butterfly final, with Elizabeth the fourth-fastest in 2:06.17 and Abbey seventh fastest in 2:07.10. Canada’s Summer McIntosh (2:04.87) will swim out of lane four and be favoured to win her second gold of the Games.

Jenna Strauch (2.24.05) finished fifth in the first semifinal of the women’s 200m Breastroke, with Ella Ramsay sixth in 2:24.56. Neither was able to qualify for the final.

Phil Lutton