Titmus dethrones Ledecky as midfielder | 2024 Paris Olympics

Katie Ledecky, the swimmer who has won the most Olympic gold medals in a century, walked out of the waiting room with a determined stride. He strode across the platform leading to the starting blocks of a Parisian swimming pool at 9 p.m. on Saturday night for the first session of the Olympic swimming final. The 27-year-old American wore sunglasses, as if the sun was shining brightly in the sky of the closed pavilion of La Defense, which was packed with people cheering her on with circus chants. She pursed her lips with the furious expression of someone who is concentrating all her energy and aggression on a combative goal. He had little time before he learned the truth. Not five minutes later she was shuffling out of the pool, wet, melted, her shoulders slumped like a defeated woman, moving slowly forward to pick up her shoes after diving into the whirlpool of Ariarna Titmus, the undisputed new queen of mid-distance swimming, having become Olympic champion in the 400m freestyle for the second time in a row.

“My last 250 was terrible,” Ledecky said with tears in her eyes, tired but smiling after the night. “I signed up for the 400 because I still felt like I had a lot more to contribute to this race. Unfortunately, I couldn’t put all the pieces together. “I didn’t have my best 400 of the season, but I still won bronze.”

Ariarn Elizabeth Titmus, born 23 years ago in Loseston, on the Australian island of Tasmania, won gold in a time that had been surpassed for many years. A time of 3 minutes 57.49 seconds, which she had already achieved in 2019. An old mark. It does not correspond to the progress that has been made in this test since she and the Canadian Summer McIntosh battled it out over the distance. If the pace of reductions had continued, the Parisian public would have witnessed an absolute record. But Titmus, according to the records of the overly turbulent pool, hit the wall well after what his body was capable of. The record that she herself set last year at the world championships in Fukuoka (3 meters 55.38 seconds) is due to the speed and split that the race in La Defense has never offered.

Rarely in the history of swimming have three world record holders, two Olympic champions and four world champions met in an Olympic final. There were four: Katie Ledecky, the Rio Olympic champion; Ariarne Titmus, the Tokyo Olympic champion; Erica Fairweather, the world champion in Doha in February; and Summer McIntosh, the Toronto standout, just 17 years old, a four-time world champion in the butterfly and individual medley. There were those who recalled the meeting of Phelps, Van den Hoogenband and Thorpe in the Athens 200-meter freestyle final to appreciate what happened in La Defense. The reality was a little less epic. In a test that allowed for tactical adjustments, Titmus allowed no speculation.

The Australian followed the plan for the final in Fukuoka. First, he got carried away in the preliminary meeting. The Tasmanian devil played dead. He let Ledecky go first, as if he had no strength left. He even let her win the last serve. He was stealthy. He played with confusion. They swam from lane to lane, and Ledecky finished in 4.02 minutes. A good brand, nothing more. Perhaps enough to give him hope. Perhaps the girl from Washington felt strong. Able to revive his saga of a decade ago, when between 2013 and 2019 no one could argue with his supremacy in conducting middle-distance tests. The golden age, before Titmus appeared on the scene.

The heiress of the legendary Dawn Fraser

Ledecky’s hegemony came to an abrupt end at the World Championships in Gwangju in the summer of 2019. On the way to the Tokyo Games and an unexpected pandemic. At this tournament, Titmus showed himself to be a free-spirited and implacable teenager. He was not afraid of anything. She seemed tireless and, unfortunately for the opponent she was challenging, she had enormous leg strength. An added weapon to her arsenal as a free swimmer. The kind of tool that, in the final stages of endurance tests, gives a devastating push. This Saturday in Paris, he showed it clearly when, having crossed the wall marking the 200-meter distance, he increased the pace of his kick. Outboard motor, suddenly. The foamy wake he left behind contrasted with Ledecky’s kick, which barely stirred the water with her legs, with a kick cycle with a lower average number of kicks and power.

Titmus was followed only by Mackintosh, who entered the pavilion with a scared face, but did not give up in the final metres. The champion held her as a guide as she advanced towards the goal without much pressure. His 30.13 seconds on the final serve were not a demonstration of the treasures of his cardiovascular system. They were just what she needed to be the first to reach the plate that broke the stopwatch and gave her the gold that equalled Dawn Fraser, Australia’s national myth and the last swimmer from a Pacific nation to defend Olympic gold in successive events when she won gold in 1956, 1960 and 1964.

“You can see that people wanted to witness the Games after eight years and a pandemic. “The noise in this pavilion is crazy!” said the winner. Ariarn Titmus has not lost a major 400-person free event since 2019.

US saves night with men’s 4×100 gold

The night of water produced no records. Nor did it bring any joy to the French fans. The men’s 400m freestyle final went to Germany’s Lukas Martens, who came in first but failed to break Paul Biedermann’s record, which he is so keen to achieve. That was two seconds away. There was good news for the United States in the two fast relay finals that closed the festival. The Americans, with four swimmers absolutely capable of breaking 48 seconds, won gold in the men’s 4×100, while Australia and Italy took silver and bronze. The Australians, the stubborn world record holders, won the women’s 4×100, ahead of the United States and China.

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