Mollie O’callaghan Denied Sprint Double By Marrit Steenbergen At Worlds

The defending champion Marrit Steenbergen denied Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan a sprint double astatine swimming’s world championships connected Friday arsenic nan Dutchwoman won 100m freestyle golden successful Singapore.

Steenbergen held disconnected a precocious complaint from O’Callaghan to touch nan wall successful 52.55sec, forcing her Australian rival to settee for 2nd successful 52.67. The US’s Torri Huske, who withdrew from a title earlier successful nan week aft suffering from a tummy bug, was 3rd successful 52.89.

Steenbergen won world title golden successful nan arena successful Doha past twelvemonth successful a section missing respective large names redeeming themselves for nan Paris Olympics. “In Doha I was like, this is crazy to win, but successful this section I don’t cognize what to feel, I’m conscionable truthful happy,” said nan 25-year-old.

Steenbergen besides won bronze pinch nan Dutch squad successful nan women’s 4x100m freestyle relay this week successful Singapore. “After nan relay I knew I was successful bully style but I was getting much tense done nan week and coming I was emotion it a bit,” she said. “I conscionable tried to support my calm.”

Steenbergen’s triumph denied O’Callaghan her 4th golden badge of nan week and her 12th world title profession title.

A triumph would person seen her eclipse retired awesome Ian Thorpe arsenic Australia’s astir dressed up world title swimmer. “As I’ve said a 1000 times, I’ve not had nan champion prep towards this,” said O’Callaghan, who won nan 200m freestyle title 2 nights earlier. “To do what I did tonight, past nighttime and nan nights earlier that, I americium very proud.”

Day six of nan title concluded pinch red-hot favourites Britain clinching golden successful nan men’s 4x200m freestyle relay, pinch China 2nd and Australia third.