Ariarne Titmus reckons she's just a goofy Tasmanian living a dream.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Australian swim star also insists she's "so normal".
"I love swimming, love getting out and representing our country, having fun," Titmus said after defending her Olympic 400m freestyle title at the Paris Games.
"I hope no-one looks at me any differently. I'm just the same old goofy Tassie girl living out her dream.
"I hope it goes to show anyone can do what they want to do if they work hard and believe in themselves.
"Here I am, I'm from little old Launnie (Launceston), a town of 90,000, and I'm out here living the dream."
Titmus, with her victory on Saturday night in Paris, elevated to the rarest of air in Australian Olympic history.
The 23-year-old joins the legendary Dawn Fraser as the only Australian women to successfully defend Olympic titles.
Fraser won the 100m freestyle at three consecutive Games from 1956.
"I can't really believe that's me," Titmus said of keeping Fraser company.
Titmus' latest triumph - defeating her rivals, American great Katie Ledecky and Canada's precocious teen Summer McIntosh, was super-sweet given the final was billed as swimming's race of the century.
"It's fun racing the best in the world, it gets the best out of me," Titmus said.
"I hope with all the hype, we've lived up to expectations."
But pundits expected a contest. Instead, they witnessed a Titmus master-class, leading from start to finish and never seriously threatened.
"I felt pretty good the whole way," she said.
"I left everything out there, I gave it everything I could."
Titmus is also the reigning 200m freestyle Olympic champion and starts that title defence on Sunday.
She is also the freestyle world record holder over both 200m and 400m.
Titmus admitted a tinge of disappointment at her Paris winning time over the longer distance, three minutes 57.49 seconds, some 2.08 seconds outside her global benchmark.
"It's probably not the time I thought I was capable of," she said.
"But living in the (athletes) village ... makes it hard to perform, it's definitely not made for high performance.
"It's about who can keep it together in the mind at an Olympics and come out on top."
Australian Associated Press
