Top Olympic Rivalries: Part I

We love sports for the joy, excitement, and unpredictability that it brings us. Above all, we love rivalries — especially rivalries that continue for long periods of time and encapsulate multiple showdowns between two (or more) athletes with unbelievable dominance and longevity. It’s truly a blessing to be able to witness the best in the world push each other to new heights.

In this article, we’ll highlight three of these rivalries that have spanned Olympiads — with more rivalries to come in future parts. Let’s go for a walk down memory lane…

1. Michael Phelps v. Laszlo Cseh v. Ryan Lochte

Oh MAN — how do we even begin to break this one down??

Let’s start with this truth: if these three incredible swimmers did not have overlapping careers, they would each have been the most dominant swimmer of their own respective eras. Instead, from 2004 to 2016, we witnessed perhaps the greatest three-way clash between three of the greatest all-round swimmers in history.

Ever since Athens, the Big 3 made their presence known in the individual medleys. In the 400 IM Olympic final in 2004, Phelps won in world-record time, with Cseh winning bronze. In the 200 IM final, Phelps won in Olympic Record time, with Lochte winning silver — just 0.01 seconds of Cseh, who earned the bronze.

In Beijing, they once again took all SIX medals awarded in the individual medley events — Phelps with two golds, Cseh with two silvers, and Lochte with two bronzes. Four years later in London, they once again occupied the entire podium of the 200 IM.

Apart from the IMs, Phelps and Cseh also went toe-to-toe quite a few times in the 100 and 200 butterfly events — most notably at both the 2008 and 2016 Olympics. Phelps and Lochte had their own plentiful share of showdowns across a multitude of events, ranging from the 200 freestyle to the 100 butterfly.

In Phelps’ absence after 2012, Lochte and Cseh continued their dominance on the world stage. Lochte, in particular, would clinch consecutive world titles in the 200 IM in 2013 and 2015 — along with a 200 backstroke world title in 2013. Cseh would clinch a 200 butterfly world title in 2015, marking 10 years since his first world title in 2005 and upsetting Olympic champion Chad le Clos in the process.

The curtain to this remarkable story was drawn at the 2016 Olympics, with Phelps emerging victorious in both the 200 butterfly and 200 IM — Cseh and Lochte, respectively, raced in these Olympic finals as well.

How lucky were we as swimming fans to be able to witness this three-way rivalry at its peak?

2. Ariarne Titmus v. Katie Ledecky v. Summer McIntosh

Here’s another three-way rivalry that has captivated swimming fans in recent years. Something tells me, however, that there is still much more in store for this rivalry.

Perhaps it’s the “asymmetry” of this rivalry that makes it most fascinating. You have Titmus, who specializes in the “shorter” mid-distance events like the 200 and 400 freestyles. Then you have Ledecky, who has absolutely owned the long-distance events and is easily one of the most dominant swimmers that this sport has ever seen. And then there’s McIntosh, the world’s best IMer and a tremendous distance swimmer as well.

And somehow, the 400 freestyle is that sweet spot where all three athletes converge for the ultimate showdown. To date, these three athletes are the only three swimmers in history to swim as fast as 3:56 in the women’s 400 freestyle — and they have each held the world record in this event at least once.

Titmus and Ledecky first met at the 400 final at the 2019 Worlds, where Titmus upset Ledecky en route to gold. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Titmus outdueled Ledecky again, winning gold in Olympic Record time — with McIntosh in fourth place. In Titmus’s absence at the 2022 Worlds, Ledecky stormed her way to her fourth world title in the event, with McIntosh right behind her in second place. At the 2023 Worlds, Titmus dominated the field en route to a world record performance, with Ledecky in silver and McIntosh in fourth — a similar result to Tokyo.

This set the table for one of the most anticipated Olympic finals in Paris. In fact, the three-way rivalry built up so much anticipation that their 400 freestyle final was dubbed “The Race of the Century” — only the second time such a name has been bestowed on an Olympic race (do you remember the first time?). In an epic clash, Titmus led from start to finish, holding off a hard-charging McIntosh down the final stretch with Ledecky earning the bronze.

Besides the 400 freestyle, these three swimmers have dueled it out in other events as well. Ledecky has never lost to Titmus in an 800 freestyle in international competition, with their most recent showdown in this distance handing Ledecky an Olympic four-peat in the event. McIntosh, perhaps the most versatile swimmer in the world today, handed Ledecky her first loss in an 800 freestyle race since 2010 — though she did not contest the event in Paris.

Only time will tell how the rest of this rivalry unfolds. Whatever the result, we’ve been blessed as a swimming fanbase to bear witness to one of the most entertaining three-way rivalries in recent memory.

3. Lilly King v. Yuliya Efimova

Remember the finger-wagging incident? Let’s rewind the clock and take a look at the backstory behind this iconic rivalry that took center stage at the Rio Olympics.

Prior to 2016, King and Efimova had never met in a final at an international competition. Efimova’s international career began a few years prior, winning gold at the 2009 Worlds in the 50 breaststroke and silver in the 100 breaststroke at the age of just 17. Her success continued over the next few years, collecting two silvers at the 2011 Worlds, a bronze at the London Olympics, and four medals — including two golds — at the 2013 Worlds.

In 2014, however, Efimova would fail a drug test, thus sidelining her from competition for 16 months. Additionally, between 2015 and 2016, she would once again fail a slew of tests — however, given limited knowledge of how long the substance remained in the body, she was allowed to compete. At the 2015 Worlds, she collected a gold and a bronze, and was subsequently allowed to compete in Rio.

King, meanwhile, was tearing up the competition in the short course pool at NCAAs whilst showing her outspokenness against doping. As an Olympic rookie in Rio, she stood in the ready room and watched Efimova win her semifinal — and as Efimova reacted, King could do nothing other than wag her finger at the screen in disgust.

This set the table for an absolute thriller. In the finals of the 100 breaststroke the day after, King would hold off a fast-charging Efimova to win gold in her first-ever Olympic final, taking down the Olympic Record in the process.

King would best Efimova each time they met in international competition for the next few years, with King repeating with individual gold in both breaststroke distances at the 2017 and 2019 Worlds and setting world records in the process. During these showdowns, the finger-wagging persisted, with Efimova even returning the favor and wagging her finger at King during the semifinals of the 100 breaststroke in 2017.

Amazingly, COVID did not bring an end to the finger-wagging. With reports of widespread doping amongst Russian athletes, Efimova and other athletes now competed under the Russian Olympic Committee — and King did not hesitate to broach the topic of cheating even before the Olympic Trials.

King and Efimova would meet once again in the 100 breaststroke final, though the result this time was drastically different — with King winning the bronze and Efimova back in fifth. A few days later, King would collect another silver medal in the 200 breaststroke. The two athletes have yet to compete again in long-course international competition since Tokyo — but that does little to take away from the fierce back-and-forth rivalry that they put on for years.