U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmuss of Australia finish preliminaries in the women’s 400-meter freestyle in Paris on Saturday. The final, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, is one of the most anticipated events of the entire Summer Olympics.
Manan Vatsiyana/AFP via Getty Images
Hide caption
Toggle caption
Manan Vatsiyana/AFP via Getty Images
PARIS — Less than 24 hours after the Olympic opening ceremony, one of the most anticipated events of the entire Paris Summer Olympics will take place: the women’s 400-meter freestyle swimming.
The race is set to be a showdown of giants, headlined by three women: Australian standout Ariarne Titmuss, who has dominated world records for the past decade, Canadian up-and-comer Summer McIntosh, and Katie Ledecky, the greatest female swimmer in U.S. history.
As the current world record holder, Titmuss is the favorite to defend her gold medal title after her dramatic upset victory over Ledecky at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Still, Ledecky, now 27, said at a press conference this week that her chances are good.
“I feel very prepared and ready for the race. I couldn’t ask for more. I’m just going to do my best,” Ledecky said.
The 400-meter freestyle final will be held at 4:52 p.m. ET at La Defense in Paris. All three are scheduled to compete after Ledecky took the lead in the morning heats in 4 minutes, 2.19 seconds.
How the stage was set for Saturday’s showdown
Ledecky, now 27, first came to prominence at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she won four gold medals, including the 400-meter freestyle, where she broke the world record by nearly two seconds and her time of 3:56.46 stood for nearly six years.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Titmus won the gold medal and Ledecky won the silver medal. The following year, at the 2022 Australian Championships, Titmus, now 23, broke Ledecky’s world record.
Now there’s a third rival in McIntosh, a 17-year-old from Canada who briefly broke Titmus’ world record at the Canadian Swimming Trials last year and held the record for four months, but then reclaimed it at the world championships when Titmus won in 3 minutes, 55.38 seconds after McIntosh missed out on a medal.
Titmuss told reporters earlier this month that he expects McIntosh to get back to “near-world-record pace” at the Olympics. “She’s probably never been in a high-pressure environment,” Titmuss said. “I’m hopeful that she’ll go to the Olympics and be a challenge for me.”
Titmuss said earlier this month he was especially intrigued that the event is scheduled for the first day of swimming. “Everybody’s going to be fresh. Nobody knows what anyone’s going to be like,” he told reporters at the Olympic training camp in Paris.
“Those two guys have kept me at a higher level. I know I have to do my best. I think they know they have to do their best. I think that’s what you want in an Olympic race,” Ledecky said.
“I feel like this is the best preparation I’ve ever had for a swim meet and I’m just excited to see what I can do,” Titmus said.
