Australian teammates Mollie O'Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the Olympic 200 freestyle final on Monday to claim gold and silver medals.
20-year-old O'Callaghan won her first individual Olympic gold medal, upsetting world record holder and Olympic gold medallist Titmus.
Titmus had a slow start and was forced to catch up the whole race, not her usual plan where she likes to start out hard and try to hold on. Titmus didn't give teammate O'Callaghan enough of a lead, who stormed home in the final 50, winning by half a second.
Training partners coached by Dean Boxall in Australia, after the race the pair were visibly emotional, with the pressure evident as they embraced in the pool. O'Callaghan then invited Titmus to share the top of the podium during the medal ceremony.
O'Callaghan was humble and described her teammate as an “absolute gun”.
“She races like an absolute beast,” O'Callaghan said.
“And it's an honour to train alongside her and have such a great team around us.”
Both athletes broke the world record at the Australian Swimming Trials in June, with Titmus claiming the 200m world record as she finished first.
Titmus and O'Callaghan set high expectations for this race. While it wasn't as close as the trials, it still lived up to pre-race anticipation.
Titmus acted like a true champion after the race, recognising the achievement of her training partner and expressing her happiness for O'Callaghan.
“I know what it's like to be Olympic champion. I'm honestly happy for her. And I'm really happy to be on the podium," said Titmus.
“I'm Olympic champion forever in the 200m and the 400m and I gave it everything. I don't actually know why I'm crying. I'm really happy with silver. It's hard to hold it in, and so it's just coming out now.”
Both girls still have individual events on their Olympic program, as they will also feature in Australia's 4 x 200m relay team, setting up Australia for another potential gold medal.