TOKYO – Ryan Murphy and the United States placed fifth in the first-ever Olympic mixed 4x100-meter medley relay Friday night (PT) at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Murphy split 52.23 on the backstroke leg, tying Italy's Thomas Ceccon for the fastest in the field. The U.S. finished in 3:40.58.
 
Great Britain, favored to win the event, set a world record (3:37.58) on the way to winning gold. People's Republic of China (3:38.86) and Australia (3:38.95) earned silver and bronze. Murphy was joined by Lydia Jacoby (breaststroke), Torri Huske (butterfly) and Caeleb Dressel (freestyle) on the U.S. relay.
 
The Americans entered the final as the second seed after posting 3:41.02 in preliminaries Thursday. California's Tom Shields had a hand in the prelims success, swimming the butterfly leg in 50.87.
 
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A similar scenario lies ahead for both Murphy and Shields with the men's 4x100 medley relay final at 7:36 p.m. PT Saturday. Murphy is yet again a likely option to swim the backstroke leg for the Americans while Shields is medal-eligible after swimming the butterfly leg (51.33 split) for the U.S. in prelims Friday.
 
FRIDAY RESULTS
Mixed 4x100-Meter Medley Relay Final
5. USA (Ryan Murphy), 3:40.58 (52.23 split)
 
Men's 4x100-Meter Medley Relay Heats
7. USA (Tom Shields), 3:32.29 (51.33 split)
 
Men's 50-Meter Freestyle Heats
23. Björn Seeliger (22.19)
 
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