Swimming: McIntosh launches bid for world domination as Ledecky fires warning - Omni sports
The 18-year-old Canadian McIntosh and American great Ledecky, who is a decade older, will face off on day one in Singapore in the evening for the 400m freestyle crown.
McIntosh is the world record holder and favourite, especially with Australia's Paris Olympics gold medallist Ariarne Titmus on an extended break following the Games last summer.
McIntosh took silver in the French capital behind Titmus, with Ledecky third in the weaker of her three freestyle events.
In the morning heats on the opening day of competition in Singapore, nine-time Olympic gold medallist Ledecky fired an early warning shot and qualified fastest for the 400m final in 4min 01.04sec.
McIntosh eased through in 4:03.11, behind Ledecky and Australia's Lani Pallister.
"It's always good to get the first one out of the way and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week," said Ledecky, one of the best swimmers of all time.
With the 400m free final hours away, she added: "It'll be a great race, lots of great competitors in there. It should be a fun, fast field."
McIntosh, who broke three world records in a matter of days at the Canadian trials in the lead-up to the worlds, started her programme by qualifying second-fastest for the semi-finals of the 200m medley -- another event she holds the record in.
With a busy day in the pool ahead of her, McIntosh had plenty left in the tank in reaching the semis in 2:09.46, a finger tip behind Australia's Tara Kinder.
McIntosh, who won three gold medals along with her silver in the French capital a year ago to become one of the stories of the Games, is pursuing five individual titles over the next week.
Also into the semi-finals in the women's 200 medley was the Chinese prodigy Yu Zidi, aged just 12.
She launched her championships by narrowly qualifying in 2:11.90, in what is not her strongest event.
The school girl will also compete at the championships in the 400m medley and the 200m butterfly.
Germany's Olympic champion and newly minted world record holder Lukas Maertens is strong favourite to win the men's 400m freestyle later Sunday.
He moved into the final second-fastest in 3:43.81 -- his world record is 3:39.96 -- behind chief rival Sam Short (3:42.07).
Short's Australian team-mate Elijah Winnington, the Paris silver medallist, surprisingly failed to qualify for the final.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
Follow us on:
Short link:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al-Ahram Weekly
35 minutes ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Swimming: 'Struggling' Marchand targets second gold at swimming worlds - Omni sports
Leon Marchand admitted he was "struggling" on the final day of the world championships on Sunday after qualifying for the 400m individual medley final with an uncharacteristically sluggish swim. The French superstar broke the world record and won gold in the 200m individual medley earlier this week in Singapore but he was seventh fastest in the 400m medley heats with a time of 4min 13.19sec. Marchand, who broke Michael Phelps's 400m individual medley world record at the world championships in Japan two years ago, said his performance "worries" him ahead of Sunday night's final. "I would have preferred to set the best time this morning and it didn't go as planned, I was struggling a bit," said the 23-year-old. "Strange, because I slept well, I felt fine this morning, but that's swimming -- sometimes you dive in and you don't feel good." Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita set the fastest time in 4:10.39, almost three seconds quicker than Marchand. Marchand is swimming a lighter programme than usual in Singapore, competing only in the individual medley and relay events. His heat on Sunday morning was only his fifth swim of the championships. "It worries me, but I have a lane tonight so in the end it's OK," said the Frenchman. Summer McIntosh was fastest in the women's 400m individual medley heats, the morning after her epic battle with American great Katie Ledecky in the 800m freestyle final. McIntosh saw her bid to join Phelps as the only swimmers to win five individual golds at a single world championships end after finishing third behind Ledecky and Australia's Lani Pallister. McIntosh said she "got all of my thoughts and emotions out last night", before coming through the 400m individual medley heats in 4:35.56. "I'm really just focusing on the 400 IM and putting a good time down and touching the wall first," said the 18-year-old Canadian, who has already won three golds in Singapore. "There's more reflection that I can do from what happened last night in the 800 but I think that's reflection that will be happening at the start of next season." Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi also qualified for the final in a third-fastest time of 4:36.49, less than a second behind McIntosh. Yu won her heat and will be appearing in her third individual final in Singapore. She finished fourth in both the 200m individual medley and 200m butterfly and picked up a bronze medal as a member of China's 4x200m women's freestyle relay team. Yu became the youngest swimmer in history to win a world championships medal. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
15 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Cycling: Home hero Ferrand-Prevot in epic climb to Tour de France lead - Omni sports
French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prevot climbed to a magnificent solo triumph at the women's Tour de France on Saturday to take over the lead of the race with one stage remaining. Olympic mountain bike champion Ferrand-Prevot of Visma, who joined the road race scene last year, attacked from 10km out with huge crowds of home supporters on the mountainside cheering her along. Visma rider Prevot-Ferrand now leads the overall standings by a comfortable 2 minutes and 37 seconds from Australia's Sarah Gigante, albeit with a last daunting mountain stage on Sunday to seal the deal. "I just tried to go as fast as possible. If I came back to road cycling it was in an effort to win this race so I made the right choice," said the 33-year-old. "I wanted to have as big a gap as possible, it's not over yet but I'm very happy with what we did today." Gigante of AG was second atop la Madeleine at 1min 45sec, while LTK's Niamh Fisher-Black was third at 2min 15sec. "I was dreaming of winning this race," said Gigante. "But Pauline was magnificent." Overnight leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar sacrificed her ride to support Gigante, who cried when mentioning this after the race. No Frenchman has won the 21-day men's Tour de France since 1985 when Bernard Hinault won his fifth, now Ferrand-Prevot can become the first French rider to win the modern women's Tour de France in its fourth edition. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
18 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Swimming: United States break mixed 4x100m freestyle world record - Omni sports
The United States set a new world record in sealing a dominant victory in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay at the world championships on Saturday. The US team took gold in Singapore in 3min 18.48sec, beating Australia's previous leading time of 3:18.83 set in 2023. The "neutral athletes" team from Russia finished second in 3:19.68, with France third in 3:21.35. The American team of Jack Alexy, Patrick Sammon, Kate Douglass and Torri Huske took control from the start and from then on their battle was against the clock. "We all came out tonight wanting to get that win for Team USA and with the world record, we all knew in the back of our mind we had that ability," said Douglass. "I'm really happy with how it turned out." The US topped the medal table at the start of the day and their latest success consolidated their lead heading into the final day of the championships. "It's great to be racing with my team-mates," said Alexy. "The world record was in the back of our minds." (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
