Olympics-Swimming-Not quite 'Race of the Century' but Titmus still golden

By Steve Keating

PARIS (Reuters) - The women's 400 metres freestyle may not quite have lived up to the hype of "Race of the Century" but still got the action in the Paris Olympic pool off to an explosive start on Saturday as Australian Ariarne Titmus powered to gold.

With a high quality field that included the world's three fastest women over the distance, who have each at one time owned the world record, all the elements were there for an Olympic thriller for the ages.

But in the end it was the Titmus show, with the defending gold medallist and world record holder leading from start to finish, coming home nearly a second ahead of silver medallist Canadian teen sensation Summer McIntosh and more than three seconds clear of her great rival American Katie Ledecky, who settled for bronze.

There was a heavyweight title feel to the evening as an electric La Defense Arena crackled with energy for a race that was expected to provide one of the sporting highlights of the entire Olympics.

Compared to the epic men’s "Race of the Century" at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where Australian Ian Thorpe took gold in the 200m free ahead of Dutchman Pieter Van Den Hoogenband and the United States' Michael Phelps, the race came with massive hype and expectations that proved impossible to live up to.

"I probably felt the expectation and pressure for this race more than anything in my life to be honest and I'm pretty good at handling the pressure," said Titmus, who is unbeaten over the distance since 2019. "I definitely felt it, and the Olympics is different.

"It's not like anything else and it's not about how fast you go. It's about getting a hand on the wall first."

Competing in her fourth Olympics, Ledecky had fired a warning shot in the morning heats, posting the fastest time ahead of Titmus and signalling she was ready to reclaim the gold she won at the Rio Games that the Australian snatched from her in Tokyo.

"We knew it was going to be a great race going in, so many great competitors in that field," said Ledecky, rated one of the sport's all-time greats. "I knew it would be tough and everyone in that field put up a great race.

"Summer swam really really well, I haven't looked at how the whole race broke down, I could only see it from my lane but kudos to them on some great races."

Ledecky, now with 11 Olympic medals, and Titmus with six have raced many times over many distances, but Saturday's race had special significance being the third in their 400m free Olympic trilogy.

Titmus, her fingernails painted gold, stepped out onto the pool deck relaxed, smiling and waving to the raucous crowd, while Ledecky and McIntosh were emotionless and stern.

The Australian led all the way, fighting Ledecky initially but then McIntosh over the last 100, before getting to the wall first to become just the second woman and the first since Martha Norelius (1924, 1928) to win the event twice.

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Paris; Editing by Hugh Lawson)