PARIS, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Australia and the United States showed emphatically why they will again be a swimming force as they began their respective Paris 2024 campaigns with gold medals in the pool on Saturday.
But it was an unassuming 22-year-old from Germany that stole the limelight on the opening night of Olympic competition at Paris La Defense Arena.
Lukas Maertens clinched the men's 400m freestyle gold by holding off a late challenge from Australia's Elijah Winnington in a thrilling final.
Maertens led from start to finish, touching the wall in three minutes, 41.78 seconds, ahead of Winnington and Korea's Kim Woo-min.
"I was overwhelmed. I stopped, looked at the scoreboard and thought, 'nah, that can't be right'," Maertens said.
"That was anything but foreseeable, after this season and after all the exertion, even if all the performances beforehand were good," he added.
Despite his modesty, Maertens had entered the race as one of the favorites, having recorded the fastest time in the event this year.
The result gave Germany its first gold medal of these Games and the country's first men's swimming gold medal in 36 years.
Shortly after Maertens' triumph, Australia's Ariarne Titmus successfully defended her Olympic 400m freestyle crown by beating rivals Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky in the final.
Titmus made a strong start and surged home in the final 50m to clock three minutes, 57.49 seconds. Canada's McIntosh claimed the silver medal in 3:58.37, and Rio 2016 champion Ledecky took bronze in 4:00.86.
"This is a little bit more emotional than the first one," Titmus said. "I probably felt the pressure for this race more than anything in my life to be honest. The Olympics is different. It's not like anything else. It's not about how fast you go. It's about getting your hand on the wall first. So I'm really happy to have done that tonight."
Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Ledecky, who qualified fastest for the final, was gracious in defeat.
"I knew it'd be tough and everyone in that field put up a great race. Ariarne and Summer swam really, really well," the 27-year-old said.
Australia secured its second gold medal of the night when it swept to its fourth consecutive Olympic 4x100m women's freestyle relay title.
The Australian team of Mollie O'Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris finished in three minutes, 28.92 seconds, beating their own previous Olympic record of 3:29.69 set in Tokyo three years ago.
The United States were second in 3:30.20 and China third in 3:30.30.
"For me it's definitely about getting up there and doing my country proud," said Jack, who missed out on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"It's a really special moment to stand on the podium with the other three girls, and represent the other two girls from our heat swim, I'm really proud of myself and how far I've come, but I definitely missed that opportunity in 2021."
In the last final of the night, the United States cruised to their third straight Olympic gold medal in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay.
Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel finished in three minutes, 9.28 seconds, over a second ahead of Australia's Jack Cartright, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Kyle Chalmers.
Italy's Alessandro Miressi, Thomas Ceccon, Paolo Conte Bonin and Manuel Frigo were third, more than three tenths of a second further back.
The victory marked the eighth Olympic title of Dressel's career.
"I know that last 50 [meters], I just wanted to win a gold medal for these guys," said Dressel, who swam the last leg to rousing applause. "I've had my moments in the sport. It's time for these guys to have them. It's really special. That's what we came here to do."
