Australia’s Ariarne Titmus won the clash of the titans in the swimming pool at the Paris La Defense Arena. Titmus, the 23-year-old defending champion in the women’s 400m freestyle, led from start to finish to beat Canada’s Summer McIntosh by nearly a second. The USA’s Katie Ledecky, champion over the distance in Rio in 2016, took bronze, though she never really challenged the top two.
Watched by Dawn Fraser, Australia’s legendary and controversial swimming legend — who had taken 400m freestyle silver behind Lorraine Crapp, her compatriot, in Melbourne in 1956 — Titmus pulled away in the second 50 after McIntosh had started strongly. Ledecky was almost half a second down after the first 100, and could not find the acceleration of old to claw her way back.
In the men’s 400m freestyle, Germany’s Lukas Martens shocked a high-quality field to win the gold that Paul Biedermann, his East German predecessor, never could. Martens had qualified fastest for the final, and he held off the challenge of Australia’s Elijah Winnington and South Korea’s Kim Woo-min.
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
The Australian quartet of Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris blitzed the field in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, setting an Olympic record of 3:28.92, while finishing over a second ahead of the USA. Harris went under 52s in the final leg, while McKeon’s sixth gold made her Australia’s most successful Olympic athlete ever.
The USA managed to get their own back in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, with the great Caleb Dressel bringing home a quartet that also included Jack Alexy, Chris Giuliano and Hunter Armstrong. Australia came second. Italy, for whom Manuel Frigo swam a storming final leg, took bronze ahead of China. The Chinese had led through Pan Zhanle’s blistering 46.92s first leg.
Elsewhere in the swimming programme, Great Britain’s Adam Peaty stayed on course for an unprecedented third consecutive gold in the men’s 100m breaststroke, qualifying fastest for the final. In the women’s 100m butterfly, the USA’s Gretchen Walsh smashed the Olympic record in qualifying fastest for the final. Her time of 55.38s was just 0.2 seconds outside the world record she set in Indianapolis last month.
Also Read: Manu Bhaker shows her inner steel as she lays ghosts of Tokyo to rest