U.S. relay wins gold; Ledecky dethroned
TOKYO — Caeleb Dressel got started on his quest for six gold medals in swimming, while Katie Ledecky found herself in a very unusual position. Second place. Dressel led off a U.S. victory in the men’s 4x100meter freestyle relay Monday at the Tokyo Olympics, easing a bit of America’s sting from Ledecky’s first Olympic loss.
Australian Ariarne Titmus — nicknamed the “Terminator” — lived up to her billing when she chased down Ledecky in the 400 freestyle to win one of the most anticipated races of the Summer Games.
Titmus, who trailed by nearly a full body-length at the halfway mark of the eight-lap race, turned on the speed to touch 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.
The defending Olympic champion settled for the silver this time in 3:57.36 — the fourth-fastest time ever recorded and her best performance in three years. Just not good enough. “I fought tooth and nail,” Ledecky said. “She definitely swam a really smart race. She was really controlled up front. I felt pretty smooth and strong going out and flipped at the 300 and it was like, ‘Oh, she’s right there.’” And then she was gone. For the first time in her brilliant Olympic career, Ledecky felt the sting of defeat, dished out by a rival from Down Under who made it clear she was not intimidated by the American star.
“It’s probably the biggest thing you could pull off in your sporting career,” Titmus said, “so I’m over the moon.”
No one else was even close. The bronze went to China’s Li Bingjie in 4:01.08.
Then the spotlight shifted to Dressel, who has been hailed as the successor to Michael Phelps.
Dressel put the U.S. out front, and the three who followed him in the relay 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.”
The 24-year-old, tattooed Floridian swam the first leg in a blistering 47.26. Blake Pieroni and Bowe Becker kept the Americans out front before Zach Apple turned in an anchor leg of 46.69 to leave no doubt at the end.
The U.S. won in 3:08.97, the third-fastest time in history. Italy took the silver in 3:10.11, with the bronze going to Australia in 3:10.22.
“The scariest part was my leg for myself, because I had control over that,” Dressel said. “I knew they were going to get the job done, I wasn’t scared at all. Especially when Zach hit the water. I saw him break out and I knew it was over.”
Apple climbed from the pool to an embrace from Dressel, who is set for a grueling schedule of three individual
events and three relays in Tokyo.
One down,
five to go.