In a thrilling opening to Paris 2024 swimming, Australian Ariarne Titmus dealt Katie Ledecky another defeat in the eagerly awaited 400-meter freestyle final, while Caeleb Dressel claimed his eighth gold with a victory in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay, the first gold medal for the United States delegation at the Paris Games.
Titmus, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder, gave no chance to Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh or Ledecky herself, who shared silver and bronze.
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‘Terminator’, as the Australian figure is nicknamed, dominated the race from the first length and was crowned with a time of 3:57.49 seconds to the huge ovation of the 13,000 fans in the La Défense pavilion.
McIntosh, 17, was the only one to threaten Titmus, finishing 0.88 seconds behind, while Ledecky, aiming for her eighth Olympic gold, touched the wall 3.37 seconds behind.
The race, which pitted the three fastest women in history against each other over the distance, was the highlight of the first of nine days of swimming, which will offer 35 finals until August 4.
The clash between Ledecky, Titmus, and McIntosh – all world record holders at one time or another – drew comparisons with the so-called “Race of the Century”, the 200m freestyle in Athens in 2004, in which Ian Thorpe prevailed over Pieter van den Hoogenband and the giant Michael Phelps.
“My legs are a bit tired, but above all I am relieved. Frankly, I have felt the pressure and expectations of this race more than ever in my life, but I am good at handling pressure,” said Titmus, who increased her Olympic record to three golds, one silver and one bronze.
Dressel Returns to the Top
Ledecky, 27, was aiming to reclaim the throne that Titmus snatched from her in an electric final at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
A win would have drawn Ledecky level with compatriot Jenny Thompson, who with eight gold medals remains the most decorated swimmer in Olympic history, but she will still have two more chances in Paris in the 800m and 1,500m freestyle.
“I wanted to be faster, but I can not complain about a medal,” Ledecky said. “I knew it would be tough. Ariarne and Summer swam really well.”
The duel between Titmus and Ledecky also marked the beginning of a battle between the dominant United States and Australia for victory in one of the most iconic Olympic sports.
Upstart Australia claimed a second win in the women’s 4x100m relay and the United States closed the gap by winning the men’s event.
Dressel took over the final relay as the United States was on its way to victory in a time of 3:09.28 seconds. It was the third consecutive Olympic champion of this relay.
The quartet of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Dressel did not give any of their rivals the slightest chance, as was made clear by the more than a second by which the American team led its closest pursuer, Australia, which took the silver medal with a time of 3:10.35.
Thirty-five hundredths less than Italy, which dropped one step on the podium compared to the last Olympic Games in Tokyo and had to settle for bronze with a time of 3:10.70 minutes.
At 27, Dressel is back on top of the podium after a difficult few years in which he stepped away from the sport due to depression problems following his colossal performance in Tokyo 2020.
The American equaled the eight gold medals won by Matt Biondi between 1984 and 1992 and still has the 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle events ahead of him in Paris, plus a possible relay event.
Ahead of Dressel and Biondi are only Mark Spitz, with nine golds, and Michael Phelps, the great colossus of the Games with a total of 23.
The first gold medal in the Parisian pool went to the hands of the German Lukas Maertens in the men’s 400-meter freestyle in a race in which the Brazilian Guilherme Costa finished fifth.
