Mollie O'Callaghan's incredible act of class for Aussie teammate after Olympics relay gold

Mollie O'Callaghan showed her enduring class after helping Australia win gold in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay at the Paris Olympic Games, with a beautiful gesture for teammate, Jamie Perkins. O'Callaghan led the Aussies out in world record time in the first leg of the relay before Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus finished the job to clinch Australia's eighth gold of the Paris Games.

The Aussie quartet weren't quite able to lower their own world record mark but set a new Olympic record after finishing first in seven minutes 40.33 seconds - 2.78 seconds clear of the United States and China, who took silver and bronze respectively. The win means O'Callaghan now has three golds in Paris after winning the 200m freestyle title and also featuring in Australia's victorious women's 4x100m freestyle team.

All up, O'Callaghan has five gold medals in an already extraordinary career. And it probably helps explain her lovely gesture for Perkins, who she made a beeline towards after the medal ceremony to present her Aussie teammate with the gold medal. Perkins helped get the Aussies into the final after racing alongside Pallister, Throssell and Shayna Jack in the semi-finals of the 4x200m freestyle relay. O'Callaghan and Titmus were both saved for the final.

Perkins almost saw the Aussies disqualified in the semi-final after a very risky change that was only marginally deemed legal. Aussie swimming legend Ian Thorpe admitted it was a nervous wait to see if the Aussies were going to be cleared to race in the final, with officials ruling Perkins' change was just 0.03 seconds away from being illegal. "I was a little concerned there," Ian Thorpe said as the Aussies got the eventual all-clear. "Jamie Perkins had a really fast changeover."

Mollie O'Callaghan gives gold medal to teammate Jamie Perkins

So the relief must have ben extraordinary for Perkins after seeing her Aussie teammates claim gold in the final, with O'Callaghan making sure she got her medal. Both Perkins and Jack would have received gold medals at a later moment for their part in Australia's victorious relay team but it was a beautiful gesture nonetheless from O'Callaghan, who wanted to make sure her teammate could fully savour the incredible moment.

“Jamie is my best friend at training. She’s there for me. She’s been my roommate this whole meet," O'Callaghan said after the race. "She has trained her arse off to get here. She’s gone through a back injury, done everything possible. I think that gold medal means a lot for me to give to her because it represents what she’s been through and she’s well deserving of it and they make up the team.”

One viewer wrote on social media: "Mollie O’Callaghan is all class - gave her gold medal to heat swimmer Jamie Perkins and wouldn’t take it back!!" Another commented: Mollie O’Callaghan presenting her gold medal to heat swimmer Jamie Perkins, who will get her own gold medal but doesn’t get the moment on the dais…Be still my heart, Mollie is something else."

Relay team claims Australia's eighth gold of the Olympics

Australia's victory meant relay anchor Titmus - who brought the team home superbly in the final leg - now has two golds in Paris after winning the 400m freestyle. It takes Titmus' tally to four gold medals across her own prolific Olympics career. The relay victory was the first Olympic gold medal for Pallister though, and was even more special after she had to withdraw from the 1500m freestyle after coming down with Covid earlier at the Games.

Throssell is now a dual Olympic gold medallist, but this was her first swim in a winning final - she was a heat swimmer in Australia's triumphant women's 4x100m medley team at the Tokyo Games three years ago. This latest victory means Australia's swim team have now won five of the nation's eight golds in Paris.

The 4x200m team join Australia's women's 4x100m freestyle relayers, Titmus (women's 400m freestyle), O'Callaghan (women's 200m freestyle) and Kaylee McKeown (women's 100m backstroke) as swimming gold medallists in Paris. Earlier Thursday night, Kaylee McKeown produced another strong backstroke swim to remain on track to become the first woman to win both 100m and 200m backstroke titles at consecutive Olympics.

McKeown was second-quickest through the 200m backstroke semi-finals. She successfully defended her title over the shorter distance on Tuesday night. And veteran Cam McEvoy has confirmed his status as gold-medal favourite for the men's 50m freestyle after storming into the final by equalling Great Britain's Ben Proud with the joint-fastest time of 21.38 seconds in the semi-finals.

with AAP