Ariarne Titmus also described how she felt about becoming Olympic champion in this event again:
“I think it’s a relief. This one is a little more emotional than the first one. I know what it’s like to be an Olympic champion. It’s a different feeling. I know how hard it is to race in these circumstances, at the Olympics. The noise, the atmosphere, the pressure.
“My legs are a little tired, but I’m relieved more than anything. To be honest, I probably felt the pressure for this race more than any other race in my life. And I’m certainly good at handling pressure, but I definitely felt it. The Olympics are different. It’s not like any other. It’s not about speed. It’s about getting your hand on the wall first. So I’m really happy I did that tonight.”
On how she felt during the race:
“I felt pretty good all the way through. I have no idea what my split times were, I started to feel it in the last hundred meters. But I gave it my all, I gave it my all. It’s probably not the time I was capable of, but living in the Village makes it hard to perform. It’s not made for performance. It’s a question of who can keep the course in their head.”
