\n<\/p>\n
He might not have been the outright favourite, but this was to have been his night. <\/p>\n
After silver in this event in the Tokyo Games, the wee boy from Alloa was going to be the big man in Paris. <\/p>\n
But instead he was left gawping at the huge scoreboards in this incredible tub of noise, gasping for air, and wondering what had happened.<\/p>\n
Positioned in the fifth lane, Scott was fifth after 50m. No panic. Easing his way in. <\/p>\n
Still fifth after 100m. OK, time to wind it up a bit, big fella.<\/p>\n
Fifth as they turned for the final length. He needs a big finish here.<\/p>\n
Scott produced one but it wasn’t big enough. He was 0.15 seconds away from gold, 0.13 away from silver, and 0.08 off bronze. <\/p>\n
His belief he needed to swim faster than ever before to win a medal – in what those who know about these things deemed “a slow pool” – turned out to be misplaced.<\/p>\n
David Popovici’s winning time was well within his purview, given Scott’s one minute 44:87 seconds here was 0.61 slower than the one that earned him silver in 2021.<\/p>\n
That British rival Matt Richards took second place perhaps only adds to that sting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n