Ledecky finishes a rare second in 400 free
GWANGJU, South Korea — Katie Ledecky is usually there in the end, her endurance powering her to the wall well ahead of the competition.
Someone else got there first at the world swimming championships Sunday night.
Ariarne Titmus of Australia chased down Ledecky over the last lap to win the 400-meter freestyle and deny the American star a record fourth consecutive title. It was Ledecky’s first defeat in the event at a major international meet since 2013.
“This stings a little,” Ledecky said. “It’s not what I’m used to.”
China’s Sun Yang was able to do what Ledecky could not — win his record fourth consecutive title in the men’s 400 free.
As expected, it didn’t come without controversy.
Sun’s rival — Mack Horton of Australia — ignored Sun on the medals podium. They didn’t shake hands, and Horton didn’t even step onto the podium; instead he stood behind it when given his silver medal.
Titmus overcame a 0.62-second deficit going into the last lap and won by 1.21 seconds over Ledecky. The 18-year-old Aussie touched in 3 minutes, 58.76 seconds.
Ledecky finished in 3:59.97 — well off her world record of 3:56.46 set at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
“She ran me right down,” the American said.
American Leah Smith took bronze in 4:01.29.
In the men’s 400 free, Sun worked his way from fifth to first and then easily kept Horton at bay over the last lap to surpass Aussie great Ian Thorpe’s record of three consecutive victories.
Sun touched first in 3:42.44. Horton took silver in 2:43.17.
Sun said he was aware Horton has a problem with him.
“Disrespecting me was OK, but disrespecting China was unfortunate,” Sun said. “I feel sorry about that.”
Sun currently is facing alleged doping rule violations that risk a ban from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and he has requested a public trial at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in September to defend himself.
In the men’s 4x100 freestyle relay, Nathan Adrian anchored the Americans to a victory seven months after announcing he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. Their time of 3:09.06 was a championship record, lowering the mark of 3:09.21 set by the U.S. in 2009 during the high-tech suit era.
The women’s 4x100 free relay went to Australia in 3:30.21, also a championship record. The U.S. team, which included Sugar Land’s Simone Manuel, took silver and Canada earned bronze.
Adam Peaty of Britain became the first man to go under 57 seconds in the 100 breaststroke. He won his semifinal heat in 56.88 seconds, bettering his old world record of 57.10 set last August in Glasgow, Scotland.