Ariarne Titmus on Saturday dominated rivals Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh to retain her Olympic 400m freestyle title as German Lukas Maertens surged to the men’s gold on day one in the pool in Paris.
The US’ decorated Ledecky was gunning for revenge after the Australian dethroned her in Tokyo three years ago, but it was Titmus who again prevailed in an electric atmosphere at La Defense Arena.
The 23-year-old world record holder led from start to finish to hit the wall in 3 minutes, 57.49 seconds and remain unbeaten over the distance since 2019.
Photo: AFP
Ledecky had to settle for bronze after fading badly over the final lap, adding to her cache of 10 Olympic medals, seven of them gold.
Canadian teenager McIntosh grabbed silver after reeling in the American great to clinch her first Olympic medal, after coming fourth in Tokyo as a 14-year-old.
“I know what it takes to be a champion, and I know how hard it is racing in these circumstances,” said Titmus, who came to Paris after swimming the second fastest time in history last month.
“An Olympic Games — it’s not really like anything else,” she said. “I probably felt the expectation and pressure for this race more than anything in my life, to be honest.”
It was billed as a blockbuster showdown, with Titmus, Ledecky and McIntosh sharing the 27 fastest times in history.
Known as “The Terminator,” Titmus is also todefend her 200m title on the back of shattering the world record last month, while trying to prevent Ledecky from winning a fourth straight gold over 800m.
Ledecky has dropped the 200m from her schedule, but is a strong favorite over 800m and 1500m, races she has long dominated.
“It feels good. It’s always good to get a medal for Team USA,” 27-year-old Ledecky said. “I wanted to be a little faster, but I can’t complain with a medal. I knew it would be tough.”
McIntosh is also skipping the 200 freestyle, instead prioritizing the 200m to 400m medley and 200m butterfly.
Maertens was equally untouchable in the men’s 400m, under world record pace for much of the race before tiring in the final stretch to touch in 3 minutes, 41.78 seconds ahead of Australia’s Elijah Winnington and South Korea’s Kim Woo-min.
“Means everything to me — you can see my progress in performance... I am extremely happy and just overwhelmed,” Maertens said. “I can’t put into words what I am feeling now.”
The German arrived in Paris more than a second quicker than anyone else this season after clocking the best time since 2012 in April, just 0.26 seconds away from Paul Biedermann’s super-suited world record.
OTHER EVENTS
Meanwhile, rugby superstar Antoine Dupont inspired France to their first gold medal of the Paris Olympics.
Hosts France ran out 28-7 winners over reigning two-time Olympic rugby sevens champions Fiji in a pulsating final at a frenzied Stade de France.
Dupont, seen by many as the world’s best 15-a-side player, came off the bench to mastermind a second-half performance in which he scored twice and created another try to inflict Fiji’s first-ever loss at the Olympics.
“A huge reward for us, for rugby, for all the country,” Dupont said. “We really felt that we were representing not only rugby but the whole of French sport. We are really proud to start the Olympics like that.”
China, who last topped the overall medals table in 2008 in Beijing, made a flying start to their latest bid for supremacy, bagging early golds in shooting and synchronized diving.
Teenage pair Sheng Lihao and Huang Yuting won the first gold of the Games in the mixed team 10m air rifle event, before all-conquering divers Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen somersaulted to victory in the women’s 3m springboard final.
Australia celebrated their first gold with cyclist Grace Brown speeding to victory in the women’s individual time trial over 34.2km, while Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel backed up his win at the world championships by defying rain and a strong field to win the men’s event.
Additional reporting by AFP
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