PARIS (Reuters) – Australian Ariarne Titmus defended her Olympic 400 metres freestyle title on Saturday after the world’s three fastest women over the distance fought a huge battle in the Paris pool.
Canadian 17-year-old Summer McIntosh took the silver and Katie Ledecky of the United States the bronze. All three medallists were past or present world record holders.
The race had been compared to the epic men’s 200 freestyle “Race of the Century” showdown between American Michael Phelps, Australian Ian Thorpe and Dutch giant Pieter van den Hoogenband in 2004.
The medal was a first for teen sensation McIntosh, who finished fourth in Tokyo in 2021 as a 14-year-old and held the world record for four months last year until Titmus took it back.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Comments