Ariarne Titmus has won her fourth medal at the Paris Olympics and eighth in total after claiming silver in the women's 800m freestyle.
On another historic night at La Defense Arena, the Tasmanian swam a personal best time in her eighth race of the Games as America’s world record-holder Katie Ledecky became the first female athlete to win four consecutive gold medals in the same event.
Titmus’s medal haul of two gold and two silver in Paris improved on her two gold, one silver and one bronze from Tokyo.
“I left it all out there and I’m really proud of my efforts,” said the Launceston-born 23-year-old.
“This is the first time I’ve really let my emotions out. I felt so much pressure coming into these Games. I know a lot of people at home were willing and wanting me to win and defend my titles and to do it on day one makes me so proud and now I can finally relax. It’s been a big week … I’m excited to let my hair down.”
Ledecky and Titmus were both under world record pace early as they established a big lead over the rest of the field.
Just 0.29 behind at the halfway point and 0.82 with 200m to go, Titmus stayed in contention as American Paige Madden challenged for second place.
She held on through a thrilling last lap to set an Oceania record of 8:12.29, well inside her PB of 8:13.59, to repeat the one-two from Tokyo. Ledecky won in 8:11.04 with Madden (8:13.00) taking bronze.
“I’m so proud of my effort tonight,” Titmus added. “That’s my first PB of the week and I haven’t swum a PB in the 800 since the last Olympics so I’m stoked with that.
“I’m proud of the way I put myself out there and took it to Katie. She’s a champ and I have the most respect for her of any athlete I’ve ever competed against. I know how hard it is to go back-to-back and to be on top of the world in the same event for over 12 years is just remarkable. I feel so honoured to be part of her story and hopefully made her a better athlete as well.
“She has this incredible ability to sustain her race so the only way I could challenge her I thought was to take it out with her, put my body on the line and try and hang on. I knew that at the end of eight days it would be tough but I wanted to leave it all out there and go home from these Games with no regrets because I don’t think I’d be able to sleep at night if I second-guessed my approach to the race.”
The freestyle specialist, who swam with Riverside and Launceston Aquatic Clubs before relocating to Queensland in 2015, also took home silver from the 200m having claimed gold in the 400m and 4x200m relay.
Josh Beltz said the Kookaburras have no fears about facing The Netherlands in the Olympic hockey quarter-final.
One of the sport’s global superpowers, the Dutch won the Olympic gold medal in 1996 and 2000 before finishing runners-up in 2004 and 2012 and eliminating an Australian side featuring Eddie Ockenden at the same stage in 2016.
The familiar foes will meet at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium at 1.30am on Monday with the two Tasmanians looking to improve on their silver medal from the 2020 Games.
With three wins and two losses, the Kookaburras finished third in Pool B while three wins and a draw saw the Dutch finish second in Pool A.
“We went in knowing that any team we faced in the quarter-final was going to be a tough opponent, and the Netherlands are certainly that,” Beltz said.
“They play a fast, attacking style of game so we know defensively we’ll have to be at our best.”
The 29-year-old said the pool stage was a learning experience highlighted by a 5-0 defeat of New Zealand which followed a 6-2 wake-up call in the Tokyo final rematch against Belgium.
“The pool stage had its ups and downs, so heading into the quarter-final we will have to ensure we remain consistent for the entire game. We know our best hockey is good enough, so it’s about producing that for as long as possible.”
The DiamondBacks product, who now has 124 international appearances to his name, is loving his second Olympic experience.
“The Olympics are amazing,” Beltz added. “Being part of not only the hockey team but team Australia is incredible. There is a ‘buzz’ in the village that’s hard to describe.”
Maddison Brooks and her Hockeyroo teammates will face China in the women’s hockey quarter-finals after finishing top of their pool in dramatic fashion.
Leading Spain 2-1, Australia needed a last-minute goal to win by two points, overtake world no.2 Argentina and set up a more favourable quarter-final.
Both sides were down to 10 players when the Spaniards pulled their goalkeeper from the field in an attempt to level the scores.
But Hockeyroos skipper Kaitlin Nobbs beat the sole remaining Spanish defender to complete a 3-1 scoreline.
Alice Arnott had given Australia a second-minute lead with Lola Riera equalising before Stephanie Kershaw restored the lead five minutes from time.
With four wins and a draw from their five matches, the Hockeyroos finished on top of Pool B - edging out Argentina on goal difference. In Pool A, China finished fourth with two wins and three losses as The Netherlands retained the competition’s only 100 per cent record.
Having initially been named as a travelling reserve, 19-year-old Brooks was called up for the Hockeyroos’ 2-1 win over South Africa and scored in a 3-0 win over the USA.
The quarter-final against China is at 6pm on Monday.
Tasmanian rower Sarah Hawe and her crewmates finished one place off the medals in the women’s eight.
Second in their heat and third in the repechage, the Aussie crew finished fourth in the A-final, just over a second behind bronze medallists Great Britain. Romania won comfortably with Canada claiming the silver medal.
Hawe, 37, of Huon RC, rowed in seat seven joined by Katrina Werry, Lucy Stephan, Bronwyn Cox, Georgie Rowe, Jacqui Swick, Giorgia Patten, Paige Barr and coxswain Hayley Verbunt.
A two-time world champion in the women’s four and 2017 Tasmanian athlete of the year, Hawe, was also part of the Aussie eight crew which finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympic final.
Tasmanian middle distance runner Stewart McSweyn will shift his focus to the 5000m after his 1500m campaign ended in the repechage.
Having finished 11th in his heat to miss out on automatic qualification to the semi-finals, the 29-year-old King Islander needed a top-three finish to stay in the competition.
He again hit the front early and led for the opening two laps before being run down to finish 12th of the 13 runners in a time of 3:37.49. Fellow Aussies Oli Hoare and Adam Spencer also missed out in the second heat at a packed Stade de France.
Launceston-born, Melbourne-based McSweyn was seeking to improve on his seventh place in the Tokyo Olympic final which was the best by an Australian in 61 years.
The first round of the 5000m is at 7.10pm on Wednesday with the final on Sunday morning at 4am.
McSweyn is the second fastest Australian in both his Paris Olympic events.