‘It’s tough’: Titmus in tears as ‘awkward’ dynamic between gold girls laid bare
Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan broke down in tears in brutal scenes after the swim heroes training partners claimed gold and silver.
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Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus tried to contain their emotions but both burst into tears after the epic 200m freestyle as the dynamic of being training partners became clear.
O’Callaghan won her first individual gold and fourth overall in an Olympic Record time of 1:53.27 as she blitzed the field down the final lap.
Titmus likes to take it out hard but she didn’t have enough of a lead at the 150m mark and O’Callaghan reeled her in with a blistering final turn to finish half a second in front.
The training partners embraced post race, shared the top step of the podium together and paid tribute to their coach Dean Boxall.
O’Callaghan, 20, was all class, describing Titmus, 23, as an “absolute gun”.
“She races like an absolute beast,” O’Callaghan said. “And it’s an honour to train alongside her and have such a great team around us.”
But the brutal reality of the two fastest women in the world being not only from the same country, but from the same training squad, was evident after the race.
Titmus was the reigning Olympic champion and O’Callaghan is the world champion, having broken the longstanding supersuit record at last year’s world titles.
They both smashed that world record at the Aussie trials earlier this year, but Titmus won the race so she owns both the 200m and 400m world records.
O’Callaghan was in tears after being beaten at trials, but has rebounded to claim her first individual Olympic title.
Titmus had been striving for swimming immortality – victory would have seen her become the only Aussie with four individual golds and just the 13th swimmer to do so.
She would have also become the first swimmer ever to do the 200-400m freestyle double at consecutive Olympics.
But instead of history, it was tears for Titmus. It’s understood Titmus broke down behind the scenes and answered just one question in the media mixed zone.
After collecting their medals, Titmus and O’Callaghan became emotional and let the tears flow in interviews on pool deck.
“These are happy tears, honestly,” Titmus said. “I don’t know. It’s really hard to hold your emotions in these situations.
“I know what it’s like to be Olympic champion and happy that Mol gets to feel that now. “Honestly I felt up there that I had won as well. It’s very special to do it with a teammate and it’s really special to have this in our country. I am so proud to be part of this era of swimming.
“I am trying to keep my emotions together but it’s really hard. We work so hard for this and to experience this and to have the crowd and our family and friends really bringing everything to the surface. So I am just like over the moon honestly with the silver.”
Titmus later wrote on Instagram: “Tonight was @mollieocal’s moment! I couldn’t have been happier to stand along side my team mate and sing the national anthem. Feeling very proud to be an Australian right now. YTG!!”
O’Callaghan began to cry as she told Australian swimming great Giaan Rooney how much it meant to her to win in front of her parents.
“I will let it sink in at the end,” she said.
“Seeing my mum and dad, that kind of hit me a little bit. I swim mainly for them. They’ve put a lot of time and dedication into my swimming and as a child.
“I wouldn’t be here without them. I probably shouldn’t cry now, it’s not the end of the meet. I am fortunate to have them with me and my support team.”
Stan Sport Olympics Daily host Tara Rushton said: “It did seem watching that in the cold light of day that was tough for Ariarne she almost had to suck up the emotion in that moment.”
Grant Hackett added: “It’s tough, you’re standing beside the winner who you wanted to beat.
“Let’s remember just a few weeks ago Ariarne did break the world record in this race and she was over a second off that so she’s probably standing there reflecting on her performance thinking ‘If I could do what I did six weeks ago or even half a second behind that I’d be standing here as the Olympic champion in the women’s 200m freestyle’.”
Coach Dean Boxall has 10 swimmers, a quarter of Australia’s swim team, in Paris and he has somehow managed the Titmus-O’Callaghan dynamic as well as possible. They rarely go head-to-head in training and he gives them separate pre-race pep talks.
Karl Stefanovic said on Nine: “It’s so awkward, right. When your main competitor and training partner and you are going head to head for a gold medal at the Olympics. It’s crazy.
“But it’s lovely to see those images.”
Stefanovic said “I think Arnie was a little bit uncomfortable” with O’Callaghan calling her up to the top step of the podium to sing the national anthem together.
“(But) it’s Mollie’s moment, that’s what she wanted.”
There were more touching scenes when cameras captured the Titmus’ and O’Callaghan’s parents embracing at La Defense Arena in Paris.
O’Callaghan now has four golds at the age of 20 — Ian Thorpe and Murray Rose were 21 when they achieved the same feat.
And she could equal Emma McKeon’s haul of six with victory in the 100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay.
Titmus still has a shot at a fourth individual gold in the 800m freestyle, where she will have to stop Katie Ledecky from winning the event for a fourth time in a row.
Originally published as ‘It’s tough’: Titmus in tears as ‘awkward’ dynamic between gold girls laid bare
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