NANTERRE, France (NEXSTAR) — Katie Ledecky had to settle for bronze in a battle with Australian Ariarne Titmus in Saturday’s 400-meter freestyle.
Titmus, a swimming star known as “Terminator,” handed Ledecky a second straight Olympic defeat in an event the American won at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
With her fingernails painted Aussie yellow, Titmus strolled on deck with the confidence of a reigning champion, flashing a big smile and waving to the fans.
Titmus actually faced her stiffest challenge from Canadian 17-year-old phenom Summer McIntosh but won comfortably in 3 minutes, 57.49 seconds. McIntosh claimed the silver in 3:58.37. Ledecky wasn’t even close, settling for bronze in 4:00.86.
Ledecky, 27, remains at six individual gold medals in her brilliant career, still the most of any female swimmer in Olympic history.
“So I would have been happier with a faster time,” Ledecky told Nexstar’s Matt Barnes after coming out of the water. “But again, the medal is a medal.”
Plain and simple, she couldn’t find the speed to chase down Titmus.
“I just didn’t have it on the last 200 or 250 that way I wanted to,” Ledecky said. “I felt like my first 150 was pretty good. I went out with the field and felt like I was within striking distance. I just couldn’t kick in into that next gear that I would have wanted to finish it out.”
The Australian women also claimed their fourth straight gold medal in the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay to gain an early edge on their American rivals, but the U.S. capped the night on a high when Caeleb Dressel anchored the men’s team to victory in the 4×100 free relay.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
