O'Callaghan beats Titmus for first individual gold

Winner Mollie O’Callaghan (right) and Ariarne Titmus pose after the Olympic 200m freestyle final. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)

By Sophia McCaughan

Mollie O’Callaghan led Ariarne Titmus home to an Australian 1-2 finish in the 200m freestyle in Paris.

AUSTRALIAN MEDALLISTS

GOLD

Mollie O’Callaghan (swimming – women’s 200m freestyle) – After three relay golds, O’Callaghan finally has her first individual Olympic title after flying home past countrywoman Ariarne Titmus.

SILVER

Ariarne Titmus (swimming – women’s 200m freestyle) – The Terminator came up just short in her bid to do the double-double in the 200m and 400m freestyle.
Chris Burton (equestrian – individual eventing) – The British-based Queenslander and his borrowed mount Shadow Man were flawless in the concluding show jumping round.

OTHER HEADLINE GOLD MEDALLISTS

Japan’s Yuto Horigome stunned his rivals with a near perfect 97.08 score on his last trick attempt to defend his Olympic street skateboarding gold medal.
British star Tom Piddock came back from a puncture to retain his Olympic mountain bike title, beating Paris local Victor Koretzky by nine seconds.
Canada banked their first gold medal at the Paris Games and in the sport of judo after womens -57 kg world champion Christa Deguchi beat South Korea’s Huh Mimi.

*After China’s Su Weide fell twice off the horizontal bar, Japan edged past their rivals to win gold in the men’s team gymnastics.

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED

The Hockeyroos remain undefeated after they thrashed Great Britain 4-0 in a powerhouse performance, with Olympic debutant Alice Arnott scoring her first Olympic goal.
Australian paddler Tristan Carter is already looking ahead to Los Angeles in 2028 after an impressive ninth on debut in the C1 men’s final.
Australia’s women’s rugby sevens team dominated Ireland in their quarter-final after a 40-7 demolition of the first-time Olympic competitors with Maddison Levi scoring a hat-trick.

WHO SAID WHAT

“That was such an amazing race .. I did it for the country, I didn’t do it for myself.” Mollie O’Callaghan on her first individual gold in the women’s 200m freestyle.

“I love Australia to bits mate, I really envisioned myself winning that gold medal for Australia, I’m just a failure right now. I really thought I could do it.” – Boxing star Harry Garside on his shock early exit from the Paris Games.

“We’ve got to do better, each and every one of us.” – Opals veteran Lauren Jackson on their disappointing performance in a 75-62 loss against Nigeria.