Katie Ledecky falls short against Ariarne Titmus in 400m freestyle

Fans will have to wait longer for Kate Ledecky to win her first gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The highly decorated swimmer failed to reclaim the gold medal in the women’s 400-meter freestyle on Saturday afternoon at París La Défense Arena, as Australia’s Ariarne Titmus took home first place again after winning the gold at Tokyo in 2021.

Ledecky earned bronze Saturday, her 11th overall Olympics medal.

The Olympics always have a promising showdown between the U.S. and Australia in the pool, and Saturday didn’t disappoint in the close race that saw Titmus, 23, lead alongside Canada’s Summer McIntosh, 17, at the start with Ledecky trailing.

However, Ledecky lost too much ground, and Titmus didn’t let up, and she defended her gold medal in Paris with a time of 3:57.49 while Ledecky finished at 4:00.86.

McIntosh was a top contender to win should Ledecky and Titmus have faltered, and she finished with silver at 3:58.37.

The three have spent the past three years trading the world record among one another.

Titmus holds it at 3:55.38, which she recorded in 2023.

Ledecky previously claimed the women’s 400-meter freestyle gold in Brazil in 2016 but fell to silver in Tokyo and also took silver in the 2023 World Championships.

2024 PARIS OLYMPICS

During the women’s 400m freestyle preliminary heats on Saturday morning, Ledecky beat Titmus with a time of 4:02.19 in a side-by-side race.

Titmus finished in 4:02.16 followed by McIntosh in fourth place at 4:02.65.

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