2024 Paris Olympic Games: Royalty salutes Australia’s queens of the pool in 4x200m freestyle relay

A quintessential Australian quartet of Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus took a piece of four-by-two to the 4x200m freestyle relay at the Paris Olympics.

Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus celebrate victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Picture: Getty Images

A quintessential Australian quartet of Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus took a piece of four-by-two to the 4x200m freestyle relay at the Paris Olympics. They were as immovable as one Queen Mary before the more illustrious members of the group hugged another Queen Mary.

“This was a gold medal that we knew could be ours,” Titmus said. “I’m so proud to do it. Quite emotional out there. We’re literally ­living the dream. A very special night.”

Everyone in a relay has a yarn to tell. O’Callaghan won her third gold medal of the Games. She’s getting the full Olympics experience: the absolute ecstasy of winning the 200m freestyle when she wasn’t really expected to; the utter agony of losing the 100m freestyle when you would have put the house and kids on her; the shared satisfaction of getting up in the 4x100m and 4x200m relays with her mates.

For Pallister, it was the end of a torturous few days: stuck in isolation after testing positive to Covid and having to withdraw from the 1500m.

For Throssell, it was her second Olympic gold but her first experience of swimming a final and stepping on the podium.

For Titmus, anchoring the ­emphatic win over the USA and China by more than two seconds, a proverbial mile, in an Olympic record time of 7min 38.08sec, it made amends for Australia’s shock loss at the Tokyo Games.

“Really fun,” she said. “I feel like a bit of redemption for us. Tokyo was definitely not the result we wanted and I wasn’t personally happy with my performance in Tokyo. I put pressure on myself to lift this team. I feel like I have a role to play. I think I did that ­tonight. I’m proud they had the faith in me to put me last and get the job done.”

Titmus spotted a fellow Tasmanian, Queen Mary of Denmark, in the crowd at La Defense Arena after the presentation ceremony. They exchanged hugs and the Queen took a few royally good selfies and everyone looked pretty chuffed. O’Callaghan ran over to join in.

Titmus and the Queen are cousins in “a distant, roundabout kind of way”, according to one of the queens of freestyle.

The Dolphins contributed five of Australia’s eight gold medals through the first six days of competition. Atop the Paris Games gold medal tally was China (11), the US (nine) and then Australia, Japan and an inspired France on eight.

Another handful of swimming medals was possible on the weekend through Titmus, Kaylee McKeown and the mixed relays.

Titmus hasn’t known whether to laugh or cry in Paris. So she’s been doing a bit of both.

“You don’t realise how much of an emotional toll it takes on you,” she said. “I’ve let my emotions out a little bit this week. I tried to get it out my system and reset for the relay.”

Pallister, too, “bawled her eyes out” at the village when cleared to contest the relay. “When I got Covid, I honestly thought I’d be out completely,” she said. “I didn’t know if I’d race the heat, let alone stand on the podium with the girls tonight. To be able to be a proud Australian, I’m really stoked.

“My symptoms were very mild and the AOC (Australian Olympic Committee) were incredible with the medication they were able to give us. That isolation room sucked, but I’m stoked I’m negative. To be here standing with these girls, I don’t think I could ask for anything more from my Olympic experience.”

Originally published as 2024 Paris Olympic Games: Royalty salutes Australia’s queens of the pool in 4x200m freestyle relay