Ariarne Titmus of Australia created history in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as she ended the dominance of the USA's Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle event.
Follow Us
When it comes to swimming, the American players have dominated the sport, unlike any other nation. Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte dominated all aspects of swimming. In the women, Katie Ledecky was the gold standard of swimming. In the 400, 800, 1500m swimming competitions, Ledecky dominated just like how Phelps was dominating in the men’s section. Ledecky kept breaking records and it felt like there would be no competitor to match up to the Americans in Tokyo Olympics 2020.
But, one Australian swimmer decided to pounce upon the opportunity to create history. In the 400m freestyle swimming event on Monday, Ariarne Titmus of Australia ended the dominance of Ledecky by winning the gold medal in the event. The result stunned the world of swimming. The reaction of Titmus’ coach Dean Boxall went viral on social media. However, this is not the first time that Ariarne Titmus has actually upstaged on the world stage in swimming.
Ariarne Titmus’s coach after she beat Katie Ledecky in the 400m free ? #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/7vypTbv1sZ
— Ben Porter (@Ben13Porter) July 26, 2021
Ledecky and Titmus were part of the 2019 World Aquatics Championship in Gwangju, South Korea. Ledecky dominated the heats while Titmus finished in second. However, in a stunning bit of swimming, Titmus won the gold medal and broke the Oceania record in the final with a time of 3:58.76, a full second ahead of Ledecky. It was that performance which perhaps signaled the changing of the guard in world swimming.
Even in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Titmus did not have everything going her way. Ledecky was leading at the start and Titmus closed the gap in the 100m section. The American maintained the momentum until the 250m section and it looked like she would win the gold. But slowly, Titmus closed the gap. At the 300m, she was only two-tenths behind Ledecky.
It was neck-and-neck at the 350m point but Titmus had taken the lead. Ledecky was pushing hard but Titmus managed to create history and win the 400m freestyle. The gap was just one stroke, that was how close it was. The time of 3:56:69 was a new Oceania record. Ledecky’s 3:57.36 was still her second-fastest mark in her career, behind only her world and Olympic record time 3:56.46 swum in Rio.
Titmus is just 21 years old, born on September 7, 2000. She hails from Ricky Ponting’s town of Launceston in Tasmania. However, she moved to Queensland for better opportunities in her career. Her first major event was as a 16-year old in the 2017 World Aquatics Championship.
The Australian first made waves when she won the gold in the 4×200 meter freestyle event in Gold Coast. She set a new world record in the women’s short course 400-metre freestyle competition of the 2018 FINA World Swimming Championships with a time of 3:53.92. Titmus broke the record set by Wang Jianjiahe two months earlier by 0.05 seconds. The Australian was selected as one of the 27 swimmers to represent Australia at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships.
But, the loss by Ledecky does not diminish her brilliance. In her international debut at the 2012 London Olympic Games as a 15-year-old, Ledecky unexpectedly won the gold medal in the women’s 800-metre freestyle. Four years later, she left Rio de Janeiro as the most decorated female athlete of the 2016 Olympic Games, with four gold medals, one silver medal, and two world records. In total, she has won 34 medals (28 golds, 5 silvers, and 1 bronze) in major international competitions, spanning the Summer Olympics, World Championships, and Pan Pacific Championships. During her career, she has broken fourteen world records.
The brilliance of Titmus was such that Ledecky secured the fastest time that even helped her win the Rio 2016 gold. Sometimes, to beat the greatest legends, one has to put in a freakish performance. Titmus did just that.
