'The medal is a medal': Katie Ledecky settles for bronze in Olympic debut

"So I would have been happier with a faster time," Ledecky told Nexstar's Matt Barnes after coming out of the water. "But again, the medal is a medal."

NANTERRE, France (NEXSTAR) — Katie Ledecky had to settle for bronze in a battle with Australian Ariarne Titmus in Saturday's 400-meter freestyle.

Titmus, a swimming star known as “Terminator,” handed Ledecky a second straight Olympic defeat in an event the American won at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

With her fingernails painted Aussie yellow, Titmus strolled on deck with the confidence of a reigning champion, flashing a big smile and waving to the fans.

Titmus actually faced her stiffest challenge from Canadian 17-year-old phenom Summer McIntosh but won comfortably in 3 minutes, 57.49 seconds. McIntosh claimed the silver in 3:58.37. Ledecky wasn't even close, settling for bronze in 4:00.86.

Ledecky, 27, remains at six individual gold medals in her brilliant career, still the most of any female swimmer in Olympic history.

"So I would have been happier with a faster time," Ledecky told Nexstar's Matt Barnes after coming out of the water. "But again, the medal is a medal."

Plain and simple, she couldn't find the speed to chase down Titmus.

“I just didn’t have it on the last 200 or 250 that way I wanted to,” Ledecky said. “I felt like my first 150 was pretty good. I went out with the field and felt like I was within striking distance. I just couldn’t kick in into that next gear that I would have wanted to finish it out.”

The Australian women also claimed their fourth straight gold medal in the women's 4x100 freestyle relay to gain an early edge on their American rivals, but the U.S. capped the night on a high when Caeleb Dressel anchored the men's team to victory in the 4x100 free relay.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.