TOKYO—Ariarne Titmus and Luka Doncic made memorable Olympic debuts.
Titmus lived up to the billing of her nickname the “Terminator” when she chased down Katie Ledecky in the 400 freestyle Monday to win one of the most anticipated races of the Summer Games.
Doncic scored 48 points in his first Olympic appearance to tie for the second most ever in men’s basketball history, leading Slovenia to a 118-100 victory over Argentina.
Titmus trailed by nearly a full body-length at the halfway mark of the eight-lap race before erasing the gap and finishing in three minutes and 56.69 seconds. It was the second-fastest time in history, surpassed only by Ledecky’s world record of 3:56.46 from the 2016 Rio Games.
“It’s probably the biggest thing you could pull off in your sporting career,” Titmus said, “so I’m over the moon.”
Ledecky lost an individual Olympic final for the first time after winning the 800 free at the 2012 London Games, then capturing three more golds in the 200, 400 and 800 free at Rio de Janeiro five years ago.
Doncic scored 31 points in the first half, putting him on pace to break the Games’ scoring record of 55 points by Brazilian Hall of Famer Oscar Schmidt in 1988. He ended up tied with Eddie Palubinskas, who had 48 for Australia in the 1976 Games in Montreal.
“I don’t care about records,” he said. “We got a win and that’s what we came here for.”
Caeleb Dressel, meanwhile, started his quest for six gold medals in swimming by leading the United States to victory in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Dressel, who has been hailed as the successor to Michael Phelps, gave the US the lead in the opening leg and his teammates made sure it stood up. AP