Katie Ledecky of the United States won the women’s Olympic 200 metres freestyle on Tuesday to claim her second individual gold of the Rio de Janeiro Games and stay on track for a rare treble.
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The 19-year-old Team USA swimmer has now won three medals at the Olympics games – she also won the gold in the Women’s 400m freestyle and the silver medal in the Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
Ledecky had already picked up a gold in the 400-meter free in world record time Monday night.
Big congratulations are in order for Team USA swimmer Katie Ledecky, who just brought home her third medal at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics! But, just like always, she produced her unbelievable burst of speed midway through the race to swim to glory.
Ledecky was coming through the media mixed zone as Phelps was diving in for the 200-meter butterfly.
Phelps’ win brought him his 20th gold medal and, if his triumphant victory pose was any guide, a particular sense of satisfaction. “I just knew I had to fight and get to the wall”, she said. World record holder Federica Pellegrini came in fourth.
The 19-year-old from suburban Washington DC burst onto the worldwide scene with her 800m free triumph in London four years ago, and has steadily expanded her range. This is her 10th individual victory at the Olympics and world championships. “I took it out pretty fast and kind of forced everybody to try to do that”.
Ledecky had the fastest time in preliminary heats, but was narrowly edged out in her semifinal heat by Sjostrom, who posted a time of 1:54.65 to beat Ledecky by 0.16 seconds and leave her as the second fastest in the semis.
“I wanted that one back”, says Phelps.
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Conor Dwyer, Townley Haas and Ryan Lochte went out ahead of Phelps, handing off a commanding lead to the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. Twice, in prelims and finals, Ledecky posted a sub-53 split in a 100 freestyle, the efforts proving her range even further.
