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
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS