By Syndicated Content
By Simon Evans
TOKYO (Reuters) â Australiaâs Ariarne Titmus defeated five-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky of the United States to grab gold in a thrilling womenâs 400m freestyle final on Monday.
Britainâs Adam Peaty repeated his gold medal success from Rio in the 100m breaststroke while Canadian Maggie MacNeil stormed to victory in a close womenâs 100m butterfly.
Ledecky has been the dominant force in womenâs swimming but in the first of three head-to-head showdowns with Titmus at these Games it was the Australian who triumphed with a superbly timed swim.
The American was 0.66 seconds ahead at the halfway point but Titmus had closed that gap to 0.16 seconds by the 300m turn and grabbed the lead at the 350m mark and never looked back.