In the eagerly awaited first swimming duel in Paris between Katie Ledecky and her rivals Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh, the seven-time Olympic champion from the USA lost out.
Ledecky had to settle for the bronze medal in the 400 m crawl final after setting the best time in the preliminary heat. Just like three years ago in Japan, Australian world record holder Ariarne Titmus emerged as the Olympic champion. The 23-year-old from Brisbane relegated the 17-year-old Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh to second place in 3:57.49 minutes at her Olympic debut.
It was Titmus' fourth medal at the Summer Games and her third gold. However, Ledecky, now an eleven-time Olympic medalist, is the favorite in the 800m and especially the 1500m. The 27-year-old American is on her way to becoming the most successful female Olympic swimmer of all time in the next few days. This position is currently held by her compatriot Jenny Thompson with eight gold medals.
Dressel with gold number 8
Ledecky's US counterpart in the men's event, on the other hand, started with the maximum. Caeleb Dressel won his eighth gold at the Summer Games with the 4x100 m crawl relay as the final swimmer. Silver went to Australia, with Italy surprisingly taking bronze. In the women's event, the Australians triumphed ahead of the USA and China.
Märtens redeems Germany
Lukas Märtens was celebrated as the first Olympic champion in the 400 m crawl in Paris, ending an almost endless wait for Germany. No German man has won an Olympic gold medal in the pool since 1988 in Seoul. He secured the German Swimming Association's first gold in an Olympic pool since Britta Steffen's double triumph in Beijing in 2008.
