It was supposed to be Arnie’s night, but it could end up being Mollie’s Games
By Rob Harris
Paris: It was supposed to be Ariarne Titmus’s night, but it could end up being Mollie O’Callaghan’s Games.
There were bright smiles, a congratulatory pool embrace and a symbolic sharing of medal podium during the national anthem. But then flowed the tears.
Titmus stressed that hers were tears of joy for her teammate but no one was really buying it. They might share the same coach, but they are rivals in just about every sense. You got the sense this one truly hurt.
“These are happy tears, honestly,” the 23-year-old said. “It’s really hard to hold your emotions in these situations … I’m honestly happy for her, and I’m really happy to be on the podium.
“I had nothing to lose tonight. I gave it everything … I don’t actually know why I’m crying. I’m really happy with silver, it’s just all coming out now.”
Eyeing a historic double “double” of both the 200 and 400 metres at two successive Games, the Tasmanian was edged by her younger rival in a frenetic four-lap battle and lost the Olympic record she set in Tokyo.
Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus embrace at the finish.Credit: AP
Scribes sat poolside were earlier pondering where a potential Titmus win would have sat in Australian swimming history. A fourth individual gold medal would have elevated her to rare air, going past sprinter Betty Cuthbert and swimmers Murray Rose, Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe and Shane Gould, who all have three.
But there was another story to be written. O’Callaghan was third with 50m remaining but powered to victory with a last lap some 0.66 seconds faster than Titmus, who made the last turn in second spot. Her triumph delivered Australia a fifth gold medal at the Paris Games, including three at the pool.
It was the 20-year-old Queenslander’s first individual gold, but it is now almost unthinkable that she won’t complete her own double in the women’s 100m freestyle at La Defense Arena on Wednesday night in Paris.
With a gold medal on Saturday night’s women’s 4x100m relay and, barring disaster, another likely in the 4x200 m relay later on, O’Callaghan is eyeing off four gold medals over nine nights. It would match Emma McKeon’s incredible streak three years ago.
O’Callaghan was on Australia’s Olympic team in Tokyo and picked up two relay gold medals but was only a heat swimmer. She was not picked in the 4x200m freestyle final where Australia should have won gold but settled for a bronze. Six gold medals at just 20 would be a remarkable feat. She has all the credentials of being a generational swimmer.
“I can’t explain it, there are no words to explain,” an emotional O’Callaghan said. “I’ve got to stay steady and calm, I have the 100m free tomorrow. I need to stay collected, calm and cool for this week. I’m swimming for the country. I’ll let it settle in at the end of the week.”
O’Callaghan, who lamented her brain has a tendency to overthink things, said she too “had a few tears” and “a few tears with Arnie”.
“It’s just great to race alongside my teammate and be on the podium with her,” she said.
“Today I was a nervous wreck. I couldn’t nap or do anything. I have a support team behind me that I communicate with ... There is a whole village behind me getting me to this point.”
Unlike for Titmus’s commanding victory on Saturday night, the pair’s coach Dean Boxall applauded the younger swimmer in a more restrained way than the over the top manner for which he became famous in Tokyo. They both train in Brisbane under his guidance, although in separate groups.
Their rivalry puts him in an unenviable situation, having to deliver plans to both his athletes on how to beat each other in the hours before the race. But only one could emerge victorious.
“He is a brilliant coach. I believe the best in the world,” O’Callaghan said.
Mollie O’Callaghan has all the signs of a generational swimmer.Credit: Getty
“To manage this and have the two fastest girls in the world is a credit to him. It’s not just us; opening night he contributed to every medal that we won. I just feel very blessed to have him in our corner.”
The pair is the first Australians to win gold and silver in the same race in the pool since Ian Thorpe edged out Grant Hackett in the men’s 400m at Athens. They are the first women to do so since Susie O’Neill beat Petria Thomas in the 200m butterfly at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
For Titmus, there’s another gold on offer in the women’s 4x200m where she will swim alongside O’Callaghan, as well as the 800m freestyle and another clash with her other rival, US swimming great Katie Ledecky. She may make history yet.
But the American, who has seven gold medals, is eyeing two more in the 800m and 1500m individual freestyle events at these Games, with a chance to become the first female athlete to win an event four successive times should she take gold in the 800m.
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