Ariarne Titmus toppled decorated American great Katie Ledecky to clinch the 400m freestyle gold medal Monday as untouchable breaststroke king Adam Peaty became the first British swimmer to successfully retain an Olympic title.

Ledecky came to Japan on the back of winning four gold and a silver at Rio in 2016, but Titmus has been snapping at her heels, ousting her as world champion in 2019 and topping the timesheets this season.

And when it came to the crunch at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, it was the Australian who prevailed, hitting the wall in 3mins 56.69secs, the second fastest ever swum.

Only Ledecky has gone better, when she set the 3:56.46 world record at the Rio Olympics.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

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