For more than half of the 400-meter freestyle swimming final at the Olympic Games, Katie Ledecky led the race -- comfortably. Or as comfortably as she could, racing against one of her fastest rivals: Australia's Ariarne Titmus.
With Titmus steadily trailing her, Ledecky hugged the right side of her lane to make sure she wasn't catching a draft from Titmus following her. There was about half a body's length difference between the two. Then, with 100 meters to go, Titmus made a hip thrust, propelling ahead. In the final 50 meters of the race the greatest swimmer of all time and the newcomer went head to head, every stroke landing clean.