Ariarne Titmus leaves it all in the pool in final swim of Paris Olympics against Katie Ledecky

It wasn’t enough to take out gold, but Ariarne Titmus gave absolutely everything she had in her final battle of the Paris Olympic Games in a thrilling 800m freestyle final.

You can see why they call Ariarne Titmus the Terminator, her tenacity and never say die attitude is truly remarkable.

The Australian distance star gave absolutely everything she had in her final battle of the Paris Olympic Games, an 800m duel with the greatest of all time Katie Ledecky who was on a quest to create history.

In the end Titmus eyeballed the American for 600m, but just as she has done for entire career Ledecky found a way to will herself to victory by breaking down her rival at their most vulnerable moment.

It was another masterclass in relentless, consistent pressure.

Consider this, across the final 700m Ledecky’s 50m pace ranged from 30.35 seconds per lap to 31.34 seconds. Titmus herself never clocked above 31.46s for a lap. There was milliseconds in pace difference every lap.

Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky went stroke for stroke for the first 600m. Picture: Sebastien Bozon/AFP

But it was in the seventh 100m, when Ledecky cranked out 1:01.78 to Titmus in 1:02.36 that the American was finally able to push the deficit out beyond a full second.

Ledecky won in 8:11.04, closely followed by Titmus who threw absolutely everything at the final lap to hold on to silver in 8:12.29, just ahead of USA’s Paige Madden in 8:13.00.

“She has this incredible ability to sustain a race so the only way I could challenge her, I thought, was to take it out with her, put my body on the line and try and hang on,” Titmus said.

“I knew at the end of eight days it would be tough but I wanted to leave it all out there and go home from these Games with no regrets.

“I just don’t think I would be able to sleep at night if I second-guessed my approach to the race so I let it all out there and I’m really proud of my efforts.”

Katie Ledecky has her arm raised in congratulations by Ariarne Titmus after winning the 800m freestyle final. Picture: Adam Head

It was a courageous swim by Titmus who has completed a mountain of work here in Paris and gave herself every chance to pull off the upset of the century.

But Ledecky, who owns 24 of the fastest 25 times in history, was too strong and had too much endurance over the 16 laps to become the first woman in Olympic history to win four gold medals in the same event in a row.

She now sits alongside the great Michael Phelps as the only swimmers in history to secure the four-peat.

For Titmus she will depart Paris with two gold and two silver medals in another heroic performance at the Olympics.

Ariarne Titmus with her second silver medal of the Games. Picture: Adam Head

“This is the first time I really let my emotions out,” she said.

“I felt so much pressure coming into these Games to hit my expectations but I know a lot of people at home were willing and wanting me to win at these Games and defend my titles and to do it on day one makes me proud and I can finally relax. It has been a big week.

“You kind of put that (pressure to defend a title) in a little box and put it in the corner and don’t really recognise it. I am so good at putting that pressure in a little pile and using it to my advantage to race, but then when it’s off your back, somehow that creeps out and just explodes, and I’m feeling the most unbelievable sense of relief now that I’m done.

“I am buggered. So proud of my effort tonight, my first PB of the week, I haven’t had a PB in the 800m since the last Olympics so I am stoked with that and proud of the way I put myself out there and took it to Katie.

“She is just a champ and I have the most respect for her out of any athlete I’ve ever competed against.

“I know how hard it is to go back-to-back and to be on top of the world in the same event for over 12 years is remarkable and I feel so honoured to be part of her story and hopefully it made her a better athlete as well.”

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Originally published as Ariarne Titmus leaves it all in the pool in final swim of Paris Olympics against Katie Ledecky