Paris Olympics 2024: Ariarne Titmus reflects on her 400m gold in Tokyo and rivalry with Katie Ledecky

The 400m final wasn’t going to plan. Ariarne Titmus trailed Katie Ledecky — and by some distance. Then one ice-cold moment changed the race. EMMA GREENWOOD takes you inside the epic Tokyo Olympics battle.

The clearest memory Ariarne Titmus has of the epic showdown that led to Olympic gold is eyeballing swimming legend Katie Ledecky underwater.

The 400m freestyle final at the Tokyo Olympics was the race that stopped a nation for Australia when golden girl Titmus confronted arguably the greatest of all time in Ledecky.

Everybody knows how the race finished; Titmus won a memorable gold medal.

But what you didn’t see, and what the world has never known until now, is the crucial moment that was the catalyst for Titmus swimming home over the top of the legendary distance champion.

When Titmus sat down to talk through her recollections while watching the epic 400m clash, she recounted the moment mid-race that was not captured on the broadcast but gave her an adrenaline charge that remains to this day.

Katie Ledecky (left) with the silver medal after being edged out by Ariarne Titmus. Picture: Clive Rose/Getty Images

Titmus said she had allowed her rival a lead of almost a body length at the halfway point, which was not part of her race plan.

The Aussie had to put her foot down earlier than expected to put pressure on the woman who had never previously lost an individual Olympic race.

At the 300m turn, everything changed for Titmus.

As both swimmers completed their tumble turns, each turned inward for their push off the wall.

For the first time, Titmus looked directly into the eyes of her rival as they began the final 100m sprint for gold.

Titmus realised then she had hauled her way back into the race and was in with a shot of beating the woman regarded as the greatest distance swimmer of all time.

It unleashed a wave of adrenaline at the precise moment she needed it and helped her fight tooth and nail down the final two laps to win the first of her two gold medals in Tokyo.

“This is the most clear memory I have of the race,” Titmus said.

“I remember turning at the 300m and we turned facing inward of each other underwater and I remember … seeing her and I just got this rush of adrenaline. I was like, ‘oh my god, I’m actually next to her’.

“I didn’t realise I’d made up that much ground on her in the sixth lap.

“The adrenaline, you just get this lift, especially in your legs. You just feel so much higher in the water and when you’re gaining on someone, that feeling continues.”

Titmus “nailed” her last turn to come off the wall a fraction of a second ahead of Ledecky but was not about to assume she had the race won.

Ariarne Titmus at home in Brisbane. Picture: Lachie Millard

Breathing away from her rival on the final lap, she had no idea whether she had won or not when she hit the wall.

“All I knew was I had to give it everything and if she had a better last 50m than me, she deserved to win,” Titmus said.

“I always take my cap off and goggles off before I look at the scoreboard and have a little moment to myself where I think, ‘yeah, I was happy with that’.

“And then I turned around and saw the number one and I tell you what, it wasn’t happiness or joy, I think relief was the overwhelming emotion, that I’d finally actually done it.

“You just get this wave of calmness over you.”

There wasn’t quite as much calm earlier in the race, on pool deck at least.

It seemed the race was not following the meticulous plan Titmus and coach Dean Boxall had set before the race.

However, the pair had prepared so thoroughly, she was ready for any situation.

“Looking back, I can see how people were worried,” Titmus said.

“I let her go in the second 100m, probably more than what I’d planned to. I probably wanted to be sticking to her a bit more.

“But I remember in the race, I wanted to make sure I had enough left in the end. I didn’t want to burn myself too early.

Titmus celebrates after defeating Katie Ledecky. Picture: Adam Head

“In hindsight, I probably should have just trusted myself more and taken it out more with her.

“But I probably let her go a bit too much in the second 100m … I can see how Dean was a bit worried at this point.”

Consequently, Titmus had to make her move slightly earlier than expected to ensure Ledecky did not establish a race-winning lead.

“My plan was to have a great last 150m and breathing away I didn’t know where she was, so I remember I had to bring the legs in probably earlier than I thought because I was a bit further back,” she said.

However, the woman nicknamed “The Terminator” by her own father for the way she attacked races knew Olympic victories were sealed by the best racer and fearlessly knuckled down to work.

The win kickstarted a magnificent Olympics for Titmus, who went on to win the 200m freestyle before adding a bronze medal with the 4x200m relay.

She’s keen to repeat the dose in Paris despite a setback late last year when she had an operation to remove benign tumours from her ovary.

Compared to the lead-up to Tokyo, when Titmus battled shoulder problems and doubts about whether the Games would go ahead due to Covid lockdowns, the 23-year-old feels she has greater clarity heading into her second Olympic campaign.

“After Tokyo, it’s harder to motivate yourself when you’ve achieved everything you’ve ever wanted to,” she said.

“I had to really pick my moment to know that I would be ready to be able to go back into that mindset.

“I wasn’t ready post-Tokyo for I’d say a year and a half. I really wasn’t ready to be completely immersed in swimming and I feel like I am now.

Titmus edges ahead of Ledecky during the 400m final in Tokyo. Picture: Abbie Parr/Getty Images

“It’s the internal motivation that’s really pushing me. I just believe that I have a lot more in me to give.

“I just have this feeling that Paris is probably one of my last chances to really perform at my peak and that just really excites me.”

Longevity does not drive Titmus. The Tasmanian is not necessarily burning to swim at an Olympics in her adopted city of Brisbane in 2032.

She knows she can create a lasting legacy by becoming the first woman since Martha Norelius, in 1928, to defend the Olympic 400m title, while no woman has achieved the feat over 200m.

“Longevity is something that doesn’t really cross my mind,” Titmus said.

“I don’t think that my career should ever be determined on whether I swim to 2025, ’26, ’27 or ’32.

“Whether I go to two or three Olympics, it doesn’t matter, I really want to perform in those big moments.”

It’s not going to be easy.

As well as Ledecky, Titmus faces threats from Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh, who this month beat Ledecky over 800m to hand the US great her first loss over the distance in more than 13 years.

But Titmus, who defied history last year to reclaim the 400m world record she had lost to McIntosh on her way to world championship gold in Fukuoka, more than three seconds ahead of silver medallist Ledecky, will not shy away from the challenge.

“With the goals I have set for Paris, if I don’t defend my titles, I will be upset,” she said.

“I believe I have it in me to win. I believe that I will be able to train at a level and race at a level that is going to be hard to beat.

“So if I don’t go there and back up what I did in Tokyo, I know I’ll be disappointed in myself.”

Originally published as Paris Olympics 2024: Ariarne Titmus reflects on her 400m gold in Tokyo and rivalry with Katie Ledecky