Tokyo Olympics | Milak underlines his class in 200m butterfly

Titmus claims women’s 200m crown; Ledecky picks up her first gold; Ohashi completes medley double

July 28, 2021 09:42 pm | Updated November 22, 2021 09:56 pm IST - TOKYO

Katie Ledecky, of the United States, reacts after winning the women's 1500-meters freestyle final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 28, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Katie Ledecky, of the United States, reacts after winning the women's 1500-meters freestyle final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 28, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Hungarian Kristof Milak powered to the men’s 200m butterfly gold medal, despite sporting torn trunks which he claimed cost him a world record, at the Olympic Games here on Thursday.

Milak, who crushed Michael Phelps’ world record in 2019, hit the wall in a new Olympic record of 1:51.25.

“They split 10 minutes before I entered the pool and in that moment I knew the world record was gone,” he told reporters after the race, angrily throwing the torn togs at a table. “I lost my focus and knew I couldn’t do it.”

Dressel pulls out

The chances of US superstar Caeleb Dressel winning a much-touted seven gold medals in Tokyo vanished when he opted out of the 4x200m relay squad that finished fourth behind winner Great Britain.

Led off by Tom Dean and brought home by Duncan Scott, Great Britain touched in 6:58.58sec, just outside the 6:58.55 world record held by the United States.

In the women’s events, an electric Ariarne Titmus dethroned Katie Ledecky to become the 200m freestyle champion, only for the gutsy American great to bounce back and clinch the first-ever women’s Olympic 1500m freestyle title. Australian Titmus now has two golds, both at Ledecky’s expense after upsetting her arch-rival to win the 400m free on Monday.

Titmus powered through the field from third at 150m to touch in a new Olympic record time of 1min 53.50sec, with a sluggish Ledecky fifth.

“Bloody exhausted, that was tough one,” said Titmus.

“Honestly, it’s not the time that I thought I could do this morning but it’s the Olympics and there’s a lot of other things going on. So it’s just about winning here and I’m very happy.” Despite the crushing loss of two titles, Ledecky was back in the pool barely 75 minutes later for a brutal 1500m, one of three new swim events on the programme this year.

The world record-holder is dominant in the event and didn’t disappoint, producing a commanding swim to claim gold in 15:37.34. “It means a lot. I think people maybe feel bad for me because I’m not winning everything and whatever but I want people to be more concerned about other things in the world, people who are truly suffering.”

Japan’s Yui Ohashi, produced a strong freestyle leg to touch in 2:08.52 and take the 200m individual medley title, making it a Tokyo double after her earlier triumph in the 400m medley.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.