Ariarne Titmus defeats rival Katie Ledecky to cement Olympic crown in 400m freestyle final

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Australia’s Ariarne Titmus defended her Olympic title in the women’s 400m freestyle final ahead of Canada’s Summer McIntosh while finishing more than three seconds clear of American great Katie Ledecky.

In the highly anticipated rematch of their thrilling final in Tokyo three years ago, Titmus added to her growing reputation as she led from start to finish and executed a carefully managed race to claim a victory that at, 3:57:49, was still two seconds off her world record time.

At 17, McIntosh claimed her first Olympic medal while Ledecky, the seven-time Olympic champion, took a step closer to becoming America’s most decorated female Olympian. The 27-year-old, who is competing at her fourth Games, needs two more medals of any kind in Paris.

Ledecky will have more chances and although she skipped facing Titmus in the 200m, the American will be favourite to take gold in both the 800m and 1,500m events.

With Ledecky the 400m champion from Rio 2016 and Titmus having dethroned her in Tokyo, the third chapter of their rivalry was billed as one of the races of the Games.

The end result, though, did not quite live up to the electrifying silence before the starting mark, as “The Terminator” Titmus pulled away from Ledecky to leave McIntosh as her closest challenger.

“I’m just happy to get the result for myself, and I’m so honoured to be part of the race and be alongside legends like Katie,” Titmus said. “I look up to her so much as an athlete, and it is certainly not a rivalry beyond the races. I really respect her as a person, her longevity in the sport.

“It’s fun racing the best in the world. It gets the best out of me; it gets the best out of them. I really hope all the hype lived up to the expectation. I really hope that I put on a good show tonight and everyone enjoyed it.”

The Canadian McIntosh claimed the silver in 3:58.37, while Ledecky was left behind and got the bronze in 4:00.86.

“It felt a little faster than that,” Ledecky said. “Probably the top three would all say that we would have liked to have been a little faster, but again the Olympics is all about racing, all about getting your hand on the wall for a gold or silver or bronze. I’m happy I got my hand on the wall for a medal.”