Tokyo 2020 - Ariarne Titmus' gold medal win sparks truly wild celebrations from Australian coach Dean Boxall

ByCoral Barry

Updated 26/07/2021 at 04:53 GMT

Dean Boxall celebrated in superb and crazy style after Ariarne Titmus won gold in the 400m freestyle. The Australian swimmer edged out American star Katie Ledecky by a quarter of a second at Tokyo 2020 and her coach couldn't control his reaction. Cameras panned to the wild celebrations, with Boxall ripping off his mask and running around the stands.

Ariarne Titmus pulled off a stunning performance in the 400m freestyle final to claim gold and no one was more pumped than her coach Dean Boxall.

The Australian edged out rival Katie Ledecky, who had previously won five gold medals in the pool and had never been beaten in an individual event at the Games before.

Titmus’ victory was as deserved as exciting as the 20-year-old won by a quarter of a second, with the two swimmers both touching the finish line in under four minutes.

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Ledecky finished on 3:57:36 while Titmus took gold with an amazing 3:56:69 – which is the second-fastest time ever in the event.

While fans were unable to witness the epic rivalry unfold, Titmus’ win will go down in history not just for the result.

Titmus had been tipped as Ledecky’s closest rival and her victory sparked truly wild celebrations from her team in the stands.

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Cameras panned to Boxall in the crowd, with the coach ripping off his mask, screaming at the top of his lungs and generally looking incredibly happy with his athlete’s performance.

Boxall’s reaction was so epic an Olympic usher briefly thought about intervening as he fist pumped the air, but thought better of bursting his bubble.

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Titmus may have swam the best race of her career in lane 3, but she had to dig deep as she trailed Ledecky for most of the race before putting her foot to the gas in the final stretch.

"I can’t believe it, I’m trying to contain my emotions," Titmus said after the race.

More than anything it’s relief to do the job... I wouldn’t be here without her (Ledecky) setting the standard.

"I've just been trying to chase her. She's really fun to race. I can't believe I actually pulled it off."

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