Olympic silver medalist Katie Ledecky won the women’s 400 m freestyle on the opening day of the swimming world championships in Budapest on Saturday to claim her 16th gold medal in the competition.
The American made the most of the absence of reigning World and Olympic champion Australia’s Ariarne Titmus to finish with a time of 3 minutes 58.15 seconds, ahead of 15-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh, silver medal winner.
American Leah Smith ranked third, nearly 4 seconds behind her compatriot.
Titmus, who set a world record of 3:56.40 at her national championship last month to eclipse Ledecky’s mark, denied fans another showdown with her opponent. after deciding to skip the worlds in preparation for next month’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Ledecky would of course reclaim the record for the half-marathon before her pace dropped slightly, but she overcame a strong challenge from McIntosh to claim her fourth world title in the event that settled for silver in 2019.
Elijah Winton of Australia wrapped up to win the men’s 400m freestyle, taking the world’s first individual gold medal.
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The 22-year-old finished in 3:41.22 seconds, 1.63 seconds faster than Germany’s Lukas Martens, who won silver at Duna Arena.
“I tried to have fun in the pool and enjoy the whole experience,” Winton said. “In the last call room, I heard the noise, the voice of the MC (master of ceremonies) and it was a complete boost for me.
“I haven’t felt this way in a long time.”
Brazil’s Guilherme Costa took bronze while Austria’s Felix Auboeck, who dominated matches earlier in the day, could only finish fourth despite a solid start.
Before that, Yukiko Inui of Japan won her first gold medal at the 19th world tournament, winning the women’s singles technical event with 92.8662 points. Marta Fiedina of Ukraine won silver while Evangelia Platanioti of Greece won bronze.
The World Championships, originally scheduled to take place in Fukuoka, Japan before being moved to the Hungarian capital due to COVID-19 concerns, will run until July 3.
