Australian four-time Olympic gold medalist Ariarne Titmus yesterday retired from competitive swimming at the age of 25, ending a stellar career that featured one of the sport’s great rivalries with American Katie Ledecky.
Titmus bowed out as one of Australia’s most decorated athletes with eight Olympic medals and four world titles.
The decision came as a shock to her nation, and the swimming world in general, as she had long planned a return to the pool to chase more Olympic glory at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
Photo: Reuters
“A tough one, a really tough one, but one that I’m really happy with,” she said of her decision in a video on social media.
“I love swimming, I’ve always loved swimming. It’s been my passion since I was a little girl, but I guess I’ve taken this time away from the pool and realized some things in my life that have always been important to me are just a little bit more important to me,” she said.
Titmus won her third individual Olympic gold medal in a 400m freestyle final dubbed “the race of the century” at the Paris Games, beating Ledecky and Canada’s Summer McIntosh to defend her title.
After Paris, she resolved to take a year off from competing and training to recharge, electing to skip the world championships in Singapore and instead cover the meet as a TV commentator.
However, the return to the pool never materialized.
Titmus had undergone surgery to remove benign tumors from her ovaries eight months before Paris, and she said the health issue had reminded her about having a life outside swimming.
“Delving more into those health challenges, I’ve had to think about what’s most important to me,” said Titmus, who retires as the 200 freestyle world record holder.
“I always intended to return,” she said. “I never thought that Paris would be my last Olympic Games, and knowing now what I know, I wish I had of maybe enjoyed that last race a little bit more.”
The face of Australian swimming at the past two Olympics, Titmus’ retirement robs the national team of an inspirational leader who did much to restore the country to superpower status in the sport after a lean decade.
Additional reporting by AFP
TITLE CAMPAIGN: The victory sent the Monkeys to the Taiwan Series for the third time in the past four seasons as they seek their first championship since 2019 The stage is set for the Taiwan Series after the Rakuten Monkeys on Monday beat the Uni-President Lions 4-3 in Game 5 of the CPBL Challenger Series in Kaohsiung. The Monkeys, who entered the top of the ninth scoreless, tied the game with a three-run blast by Lin Chih-ping and scored the winning run in the 10th on an RBI single by Lin Li, a three-time batting champion in the CPBL. Both players entered the game as pinch hitters. “The coach told me to stay prepared as a pinch hitter in the later part of the game. My teammates had
Taiwanese badminton ace Chou Tien-chen was crowned the men’s singles champion at the Arctic Open on Sunday, after defeating Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-11, 13-21, 21-19. The 35-year-old Chou, who is ranked world No. 5, and the 24-year-old Vitidsarn, ranked world No. 3, battled it out for one hour and 17 minutes in a grueling three-game match at Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland. In the first game, Chou took an early 9-7 lead and maintained his momentum, widening the gap, before defeating Vitidsarn 21-11. At the start of the second game, the two players were neck-and-neck. When Vitidsarn pulled ahead
The Ministry of Sports on Wednesday night called for the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) to address issues in Taiwanese soccer after national manager Huang Che-ming on Tuesday resigned following Taiwan’s elimination in AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Taiwan on Tuesday were thrashed 6-1 by Thailand in their Group D tie at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Taiwan finished with no points, after losing all four of their matches, eliminating them from qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. Huang made his surprise resignation at a post-match news conference, following three losses since he took over the team from English coach Gary White in August. Huang
HIT AND RUN: Toronto manager John Schneider got his wish that his team ‘find some slug in the air out here,’ as the Blue Jays combined to total 611m of homers Tired in Toronto, the Blue Jays slugged in Seattle. Vladimir Guerrero Jr and George Springer on Wednesday woke up the Jays, as Toronto hit five home runs to rebound from an early deficit, routing the Mariners 13-4 and closing to 2-1 in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Toronto had 18 hits — all within the first three pitches of each at-bat. “If they give us a first pitch, the pitch that we’re looking for, we’re going to attack and we’re going to be aggressive,” Guerrero said. Seattle starter George Kirby gave up eight of the hits. “I wasn’t really executing when they got
RSS