What was billed as a showdown between three generational swimmers quickly became the Ariarne Titmus show as the Australian superstar went wire-to-wire to win the women's 400m freestyle final on the first day of swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Titmus finished in 3:57.49, nearly a full second ahead of Canada's 17-year-old phenom Summer McIntosh inside Paris La Defense Arena. Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky finished third at 4:00.86 to win her 11th-career Olympic medal and first-ever bronze.
"I’m relieved more than anything," Titmus said. "I probably felt the pressure for this race more than anything in my life to be honest. And I’m definitely good at handling the pressure, but I’ve definitely felt it. The Olympics is different. It’s not like anything else. It’s not about how fast you go. It’s about getting your hand on the wall first. So I'm really happy to have done that tonight."
Titmus, who entered as the defending 400m freestyle gold medalist from the Tokyo Games, became the first woman in 96 years to go back-to-back in the event (Martha Norelius, 1924-28).
"I can’t believe that’s me, to be honest. I look at myself and I’m so normal. I love swimming, and I love getting out and representing my country and having fun. I hope nobody looks at me any differently. I’m just the same old goofy Tassie (Tasmanian) girl out here living out her dream," Titmus said.
The 23-year-old also secured the first gold medal of the Paris Games for either Australia or the United States, kicking off what should be a back-and-forth battle for supremacy in the Paris pool throughout the Olympic swimming program.
Ledecky, certainly, expects to be a factor on multiple more podiums to come after her opening night bronze.
"It's always good to get a medal for Team USA. I wanted to be a little faster but can't complain with the medal," the American said. "We knew it was going to be a great race going in, so many great competitors in the field. I knew it'd be tough and everyone in that field put up a great race."