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Australia's Ariarne Titmus poses with her gold medal after winning the women's 400-meter freestyle final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Nanterre, France. (AP Photo)
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Ariarne Titmus has made the shock decision to end her career at the age of 25. Titmus was on a break from swimming after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but rather than start preparing for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the Australian swimmer opted to draw curtains on her career, in a move that stunned many. At the Paris Olympics last year, Titmus had defended her 400-meter freestyle title in a race against US great Katie Ledecky and Canada’s Summer McIntosh. All three swimmers have broken the world record for the distance.
Titmus enters retirement as the world-record holder in the 200m freestyle event. She also holds 33 international medals, including four golds, three silvers and one bronze Olympic gold medals and four world titles.
Titmus posted a video on Instagram on Thursday announcing her retirement at the age of 25.
“I’ve always loved swimming, it’s been my passion since I was a little girl, but I guess I’ve taken this time away from the sport and realized some things in my life that have always been important to me are just a little bit more important to me now than swimming,” Titmus said. “And that’s OK.”
“Knowing now what I know, I wish maybe I enjoyed that last race a little bit more,” she said. “But I guess having this 12 months away I’ve had the chance to explore what life is like without swimming — and that was always my intention — but I think a turning point for me was in the lead-up to the Paris Games I went through some health challenges which, quite frankly, really rocked me.”
In 2023, Titmus had surgery to remove two benign ovarian tumors but returned to the highest level quickly to prepare for the next competition.
On Thursday, she initially posted the news of her retirement in the form of a letter to her seven-year-old self.
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“Today you retire from competitive swimming. 18 years you spent in the pool competing. 10 of those representing your country. You went to two Olympic Games and, even better, you won!!!” she wrote. “The dreams you had, they all came true. You achieved more than you ever thought you were capable of and you should be so proud.”
As the Associated Press noted, since swimming delivers most of Australia’s gold medals at the Olympics, the sudden retirement made national headlines.
In a “Thankyou Arnie!” farewell note, Swimming Australia said there’d be “a seismic void for the Dolphins’ to fill as it was customary at major meets for Titmus to swim the 400 freestyle event on the opening night.”
The swimming federation noted that Titmus had dominated the race for seven years and took her responsibility as a competition agenda setter very seriously.
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“Before her successful Paris campaign, Titmus vowed to win Australia’s first gold medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics not just for the Dolphins,” Swimming Australia said, “but for the entire Australian Olympic team and for the Australian public.”
(With inputs from the Associated Press)
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