Follow our Olympics coverage from the Paris Games.
NANTERRE, France — Ariarne Titmus got to her lane first. Or so she thought.
She dropped her gear and outer layers into the assigned bin for Lane 4, and then she went over to check the sturdiness of the diving platform. After that, she slapped a few of her own muscles, making sure they were warmed up and ready to race. It was about to be the Race of the Century in women’s swimming, or something like that. That’s what everyone had said.
And then none other than Katie Ledecky herself walked up to Titmus and politely interrupted the warmup routine. Lane 4 was actually hers for this final. She’d edged Titmus in the morning prelims, so she got the top seed and that lane.
Titmus was — gasp! — assigned Lane 5. The second-best spot, just as easy to win from, of course. But not where she’d set up shop.
“I was like, ‘All good, all good,’ but she was freaking out,” Ledecky said later. “I didn’t want her to feel bad or anything. I joked with her before the medal ceremony that she was getting a little comfortable over there in Lane 4, but yeah, it was no big deal. I just didn’t want either of us to get disqualified for swimming in the wrong lane.”
Katie Ledecky informs Ariarne Titmus that she’s in…
