TITMUS GLOWS ON JUDGMENT DAY
TOKYO (AP) – Ariarne Titmus and Luka Doncic made memorable Olympic debuts.
Titmus lived up to the billing of her nickname the “Terminator” when she chased down Katie Ledecky in the 400 freestyle Monday to win one of the most anticipated races of the Summer Games.
Doncic scored 48 points in his first Olympic appearance to tie for the second most ever in men’s basketball history, leading Slovenia to a 118-100 victory over Argentina.
Titmus trailed by nearly a full body-length at the halfway mark of the eight-lap race before erasing the gap and finishing in 3 minutes, 56.69 seconds. It was the second-fastest time in history, surpassed only by Ledecky’s world record of 3:56.46 from the 2016 Rio Games.
“It’s probably the biggest thing you could pull off in your sporting career,” Titmus said, “so I’m over the moon.”
Ledecky lost an individual Olympic final for the first time after winning the 800 free at the 2012 London Games, then capturing three more golds in the 200, 400 and 800 free in Rio.
Doncic scored 31 points in the first half, putting him on pace to break the Games’ scoring record of 55 points by Brazilian Hall of Famer Oscar Schmidt in 1988. He ended up tied with Eddie Palubinskas, who had 48 for Australia in the 1976 Games in Montreal.
“I don’t care about records,” he said. “We got a win and that’s what we came here for.”
Caeleb Dressel started his quest for six gold medals in swimming by leading the United States to victory in the men’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
Dressel, who has been hailed as the successor to Michael Phelps, gave the US the lead in the opening leg and his teammates made sure it stood up.
“I felt good the whole way, I knew I had to get my hand in the wall first and get some clean water,” Dressel said. “And everyone did their job. It’s a relay for a reason, it’s four guys for a reason, it’s certainly not just me. It’s certainly not just one guy.”
Dressel is competing in three individual events and two more relays in Tokyo.
The other winners in the pool on Monday were Britain’s Adam Peaty in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke, Canada’s Maggie MacNeil in the women’s 100-meter butterfly.
A dramatic comeback for the US softball team against Japan earned the Americans a small prize. When the countries play again it will be for the gold medal.
Kelsey Stewart homered leading off the seventh inning to lead the US to a 2-1 victory to win the group stage and give it the right to bat last in the gold medal game. The longball was the first for the United States this tournament.
“It’s like you dream about when you’re a little kid, about hitting a home run at the Olympics, let alone a walkoff,” Stewart said.
Monica Abbott pitched a perfect seventh in relief for her third win of the tournament. She is likely to start Tuesday’s gold medal game, a day before her 36th birthday.
The Americans lost the gold medal game 3-1 to Japan in 2008, the previous time softball was in the Olympics.
Youth was served at the debut of the Olympic skateboarding event for women.
Three teenagers swept the podium at the street event with 13-year-old Momiji Nishiya of Japan taking the gold medal, 13-year-old Rayssa Leal of Brazil getting silver and 16-year-old Funa Nakayama of Japan winning bronze.