Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus has won her second gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 200-metre freestyle.
Titmus followed her 400m freestyle triumph with victory in the 200m in Wednesday’s final.
Titmus’ second gold lifts Australia’s medal tally at the Tokyo Games to seven gold, one silver and five bronze medals.
Titmus’ 200m final was billed as another match race against American great Katie Ledecky.
But Ledecky finished fifth, with Titmus’ main challenge coming from China’s Hong Kong based swimmer Siobhan Bernadette Haughey.
Haughey held the lead until the last 20 metres when Titmus finished in a flurry to win in an Olympic record time of one minute 53.50 seconds.
Haughey (1:53.92) took silver with Canadian Penny Oleksiak (1:54.70) claiming bronze.
Titmus joins Shane Gould in 1972 as Australian women to complete the 200m-400m golden double at an Olympics.
She will meet Ledecky once more at the Tokyo Games, over 800m, with the American red-hot favourite over the longer distance.
“When it comes to what will be the 3.0 battle in the 800 freestyle, that is when Katie Ledecky has Arnie covered,” Australian swim legend Ian Thorpe told the Seven Network.
“And I want Arnie to prove me wrong.”
AAP
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