The 2024 Summer Olympics swimming events are underway on the first day of full day of competition in Paris, and Katie Ledecky began her Paris Games competition at París La Défense Arena.
In a matchup against her main rival, Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, as well as Canada’s Summer McIntosh, Ledecky came in third (4:00.86), with Titmus winning gold (3:57.49) and McIntosh winning silver (3:58.37).
Ledecky finished first in the Women’s 400m Freestyle Prelims earlier on Saturday. Her time of 4:02.19 beat Titmus’ 4:02.16. McIntosh placed fourth at 4:02.65.
Here’s a look at this afternoon’s swimming schedule:
-
Women’s 100m Butterfly Semifinals
-
Men’s 400m Freestyle Final 🥇
-
Women’s 400m Freestyle Final🥇
-
Men’s 100m Breaststroke Semifinals
-
Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final🥇
-
Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final🥇
Ledecky has seven career Olympic gold medals and is looking to add to that career haul with four events on her schedule in Paris. She took home gold in the 400m freestyle at the 2016 Summer Games and a silver in the event at Tokyo 2020. She also took home silver in the 2023 World Championships.
Also eyeing the medal stand today in Paris for Team USA are the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, led by Caeleb Dressel, which is a -750 favorite to win per BetMGM, and the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, which has the second-best odds to take home gold, per BetMGM, at +500.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live coverage of the first swimming medal events from Paris 2024.
Live36 updates
-
More on Team USA’s first gold medal of the games, with a victory in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay
PARIS — Chris Guiliano, Jack Alexy, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel combined to win Team USA its first gold medal of the 2024 Olympics in the last race of swimming’s opening night.
The American foursome out-raced Great Britain, Australia and China in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay here at Paris La Défense Arena on Saturday. As they won gold, the four Americans held their hands in the air and flexed their muscles.
The U.S. finished in 3:09.28. Australia took silver (3:10.35), Italy took the bronze (3:10.70).
Their swims yielded Dressel’s eighth Olympic gold. The other three U.S. swimmers in Saturday’s final entered with one combined medal of any color. But this was far from a one-man team, or even a Dressel-led effort.
Read more from Henry Bushnell here.
-
The Australia-United States swimming rivalry stands strong
One by one, the Australian Dolphins dipped in, and sent a Saturday statement rippling through the 2024 Olympics.
The Aussie women beat Team USA in swimming’s 4×100-meter relay here at Paris La Défense Arena, and flexed their collective muscle in a battle that’s expected to define this competition.
Led by Mollie O’Callaghan, a potential breakout star of these Games, the Aussie women won gold (3:28.92, an Olympic record), followed by the United States (3:30.20) and China (3:30.30).
The U.S. sent out a star-studded squad of Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass, Torri Huske and Simone Manuel. But, up against Australia’s speed, the Americans probably never stood a chance.
Read more from Henry Bushnell here.
-
Team USA gets dominant gold medal in 4x100m freestyle
The U.S. earns another gold medal with a time of 3:09.28, beating out Australia and Italy for a definitive first-place finish.
Jack Alexy and Chris Giulino started things off strong for the U.S., before Hunter Armstrong extended the team’s lead with a strong third leg performance. Caleb Dressel then finished things out as the anchor.
The team gives the U.S. its first gold of the Olympics so far, in exciting fashion.
-
And we’re off with the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay!
-
Australia wins gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay with Olympic record, as United States surges to take silver
Australia wins a fourth straight gold medal as the United States, anchored by Simone Manuel, moves just past China to take the silver.
The United State time of 3:30.20 from the group of Manuel, Kate Douglass, Tori Huske and Gretchen Walsh marks an American record; Australia’s 3:28.92 time marks an Olympic record.
-
The women’s 4x100m freestyle relay has begun! The U.S. has a chance to chase Australia for another matchup in the swimming rivalry.
-
More on Ariarne Titmus’s huge win over Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky
In the first high-profile swimming showdown of the 2024 Games, a battle of the last three world record holders in the event, Titmus, the current holder, 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 Ledecky, it’s Olympic medal No. 11.
“It’s fun racing the best in the world. It gets the best out of me,” Titmus said. “I really hope that all the hype [of the race] lived up to expectation.”
The three-way duel that had been hyped by some as the “Race of the Century” finished how most people in the sport expected it would: with Titmus, the reigning Olympic champ, still atop the world.
Read more from Yahoo Sports’ Henry Bushnell here.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
In 2023, Summer McIntosh set World record in Women’s 400m Freestyle
Team USA’s Katie Ledecky and Australia’s Ariarne Titmus are viewed as the longtime rivals in Saturday’s Women’s 400m Freestyle. But Canada’s Summer McIntosh is expected to medal and could very well win gold.
At 17, McIntosh is a breakout star and the clear future of the sport. She was also once a World record holder in this event, setting the mark at the 2023 Canadian swimming trials. Take a look.
-
Zhang Yufei faces doping controversy in addition to opposing swimmers
China’s Zhang Yufei placed first among qualifirs for the Women’s 100m Butterfly earlier on Saturday. But any Chinese swimmer is going to draw scrutiny right now after she and 22 of her teammates had tested positive for a banned substance in 2021.
As could be expected, many reporters wanted to hear from Zhang, who hadn’t previously commented on the scandal. Yahoo Sports’ Henry Bushnell was among the crowd of media, who first received answers in English, then Zhang’s native Mandarin:
[…] she spoke for a minute and a half in Mandarin. She said that she and her teammates had been tested three to four times per week in the two months prior to these Paris Games (far more frequently than the norm). “I don’t think there is a single athlete, Chinese or foreign, who would test positive for doping,” she said, according to translations from the New York Times and an automated service. “They would not want to destroy all the hard work they’ve put in over the years.”
“The Chinese government does not allow us to dope intentionally,” Zhang continued. Her answers fell in line with the explanations that anti-doping authorities and World Aquatics, the global governing body for swimming, have given or accepted all along: That the 23 positive tests were the result of contamination.
Swimmers from other countries are dubious of that explanation. And there was grumbling on social media after Fei Liwei won his 400m Freestyle heat pretty decisively. So such questions will continue to be asked throughout the swimming competition in Paris.
-
Katie Ledecky vs. Ariarne Titmus from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
As we await Saturday’s Women’s 400m Freestyle and the showdown among Katie Ledecky, Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh, take a look back at the last time Ledecky and Titmus raced against each other in the Olympics during the 2020 Tokyo Games:
