Olympics: Joseph Schooling fails to make 100m butterfly semis, says goodbye to defending the medal he won in 2016

TOKYO - Singapore's Joseph Schooling clocked 53.12 seconds seconds in his 100m butterfly heat at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Thursday (July 27) night and will not defend the medal he won in 2016.

The 26-year-old placed last in the fifth of eight heats, which was led by Holland's Nyls Korstanje (51.54).

Only the 16 swimmers with the quickest times, out of 59, will progress to the semi-finals which will be held on Friday morning.

Teammate Quah Zheng Wen also missed the cut after clocking 52.39sec to finish fourth in heat four.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.