Australia’s “golden girls” is an old and oft-used cliché from newspaper headline writers that goes back to the 1956 Olympics. But clichés exist for a reason – and on day one in Paris it was once again the women who led the way.
Ariarne Titmus and Australia’s women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team.Credit: Graphic: Matthew Absalom-Wong
Paris: Ariane Titmus wants to you know she’s still the same old goofy Tassie girl out here living out her dream.
A goofy girl with three gold medals, that is. And perhaps more to come.
Three years ago in Tokyo, a 20-year-old Titmus was the new kid on the block with unbridled enthusiasm, smiling without a worry in the world.
But now the pressure of greatness weighs heavily on her mind. Even if her commanding performance to win the women’s 400m freestyle on the opening of swimming at the Paris Games didn’t show it.
“I’m definitely good at handling the pressure, but I’ve definitely felt it.”
Titmus
“I probably felt the pressure for this race more than anything in my life to be honest,” Titmus said, having dismissed her two great rivals, Canada’s Summer McIntosh and American Katie Ledecky in a contest billed as the “race of the century”.
After the race, Titmus described the pressure in the lead-up to the ‘race of the century’ as having a ‘big monkey’ on her back.Credit: Getty Images
“And I’m definitely good at handling the pressure, but I’ve definitely felt it. The Olympics is different. It’s not like anything else. It’s not about how fast you go. It’s about getting your hand on the wall first. So I’m really happy to have done that tonight.”
In more than century of Olympic success in the pool, Australia has rarely had a night like this. Two gold and two silver from four finals. The women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team won its fourth straight gold at the Olympics. Its most senior member, Emma McKeon, won a record sixth gold medal, surpassing Ian Thorpe’s five.
Winners: Emma Mckeon, Meg Harris, Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan celebrate their gold-winning performance.Credit: AP
The crowd at the La Defense Arena in Paris – stacked with boxing kangaroos and green and gold shirts – was deafening. Europe’s largest indoor arena, which has undergone a metamorphosis to house two 50-metre pools at its centre, allows for more than 17,000 people to watch the swimming events. Over four nights in May, pop star Taylor Swift played 180,000 spectators. It’s hard to comprehend that being any louder.
“Everybody’s happy in Disneyland.”
Kyle Chalmers
Shy and unassuming, McKeon hardly seemed fazed about her record accomplishment. Thorpe, broadcasting on Nine, seemed more excited than she did.
“I don’t keep track of that kind of stuff,” she said when informed by a journalist of her latest accomplishment. “Everyone wants to be part of this 4x100m, I feel really honoured to be part of it.
“It’s definitely been a rough couple of years, especially this year. So I definitely had my doubts. I just really wanted to be part of this team.”
Kyle Chalmers produced a brilliant final leg of the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle to win silver for Australia, while Elijah Winnington stormed home in the final lap to claim 400 m freestyle silver. He relaxed by thinking of his favourite ride at Disneyland (Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom).
What could be more relaxing than Space Mountain, Paris Disneyland?Credit: Alamy
“Everybody’s happy in Disneyland,” he said.
But it was Titmus, in the first high-profile swimming showdown of the Games, that shone brightest, in a battle between the past three world record holders in her pet event. Even her coach, Dean Boxhall, whose nervous sideline antics won him fame at Tokyo, remained much cooler this time around.
She led wire to wire and touched first in 3:57.49. McIntosh won silver in 3:58.37. Ledecky, a giant of the sport, took bronze in 4:00.86. For both Ledecky and McKeon, it was Olympic medal number 11. It places them one behind the sport’s all-time Olympic record of 12 shared by the US trio of Jenny Thompson, Dana Torres and Natalie Coughlin.
“And here I am, from little old Lonnie, a town of 90,000, and I’m out here living the dream, so I hope that inspired kids back home.”
Titmus
“It’s a little bit more emotional, this one, than the first one,” said Titmus.
“I know what it feels like to be an Olympic champion. It’s a different feeling. I know how hard it is racing in these circumstances, at an Olympic Games. The noise, atmosphere, pressure; (Olympic) Village life definitely makes performing well hard.”
Ledecky is widely regarded as among the greatest swimmers of all time. McIntosh not long ago was tipped as her heir. But Titmus, over this distance at least, has their measure. Another battle with Ledecky looms over 800m in Paris. It is a mouthwatering prospect.
This rivalry is fierce but it is not bitter. Ledecky was the first to congratulate her after the race.
Ariarne Titmus (left) and Katie Ledecky (right).Credit: Getty Images
“I definitely don’t see my rivalry with her or anything, but racing, I really respect her as a person, and I look up to her with what she’s done and the longevity in the sport,” Titmus said.
“And here I am, from little old Lonnie (Launceston), a town of 90,000, and I’m out here living the dream, so I hope that inspired kids back home.”
Australia’s “golden girls” is an old and oft-used cliché from newspaper headline writers that goes back to the 1956 Olympics. But clichés exist for a reason and that’s usually because they’re true. On a breathtaking opening day of competition for Australia, it was once again the women who led the way.
It began with Grace Brown, a former runner who grew up in Camperdown in southwestern Victoria, who claimed Australia’s first gold medal since Sara Carrigan won the women’s road race at the 2004 Olympics.
Brown had already decided she would retire from competitive cycling at the end of the season, according to her parents, who were beside the course watching on their phones as she crossed the finish line at Pont Alexandre III.
“Just to make Australia proud, winning the first gold medal for our nation, setting the medal table on its way,” she said as she stood in the drizzle. “I hope I inspire the other athletes to push their limits and go after similar results,” she said.
All this on just day one. But you get the feeling this team is only just getting started.
