Fans will have to wait a little longer to see Kate Ledecky win her first gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The multi-titled swimmer was unable to reclaim gold in the women’s 400m freestyle at La Défense Arena in Paris on Saturday afternoon, with Australia’s Ariarne Titmuss, who won gold in Tokyo 2021, repeating her victory.
Ledecky won the bronze medal on Saturday, earning her 11th Olympic medal overall.
The Olympic pool showdown between the United States and Australia is always a promising one, and Saturday’s race did not disappoint, with the 23-year-old Titmus and 17-year-old Canada’s Summer McIntosh leading the pack at the start, followed by Ledecky.
But Ledecky fell far behind and Titmus never slowed down, defending her gold medal in Paris with a time of 3:57.49, while Ledecky finished in 4:00.86.
McIntosh was the favorite to win if Ledecky and Titmus faltered, but she took silver in 3:58.37.
The three have traded world records with each other over the past three years.
Titmuss currently holds the record, having run it in 2023 at 3 minutes 55.38 seconds.
Ledecky won gold in the women’s 400m freestyle in Brazil in 2016 but finished with silver in Tokyo and will also win silver at the 2023 world championships.
2024 Paris Olympics
In the women’s 400-meter freestyle preliminaries on Saturday morning, Ledecky beat Titmus in a side-by-side race with a time of 4 minutes, 2.19 seconds.
Titmus finished in 4:02.16, with McIntosh taking fourth place in 4:02.65.
The Washington, DC native continues to seek three more gold medals as she sets her sights on the 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay events.
If she wins at least three gold medals in Paris, she will become the most decorated female athlete with Olympic gold medals.
