Michael Phelps picked up his 19th gold medal on a second night of world records in the Olympic pool, with Katie Ledecky cruising to women’s 400 metres freestyle victory and Britain’s Adam Peaty running away with the men’s 100 breaststroke.
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Also in action Tuesday will be Ryan Lochte, swimming his first Rio race as part of the USA men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team, and Maya DiRado, who claimed silver in the women’s 400m individual medley on Saturday and has a chance to add a second medal in Tuesday’s 200m IM final.
Phelps posted a time of 1 minute 53.36 seconds, which was enough to hold off Masato Sakai of Japan, whose 1:53.40 was 0.04 seconds behind Phelps.
“It feels like gold that I’m after her”, Sjostrom said. Four years ago, Phelps misjudged his finish – gliding a little too long after his final stroke – and was edged at the wall by South African Chad le Clos.
It was South Africa’s le Clos who pipped him to gold in London, inflicting a shock defeat on the American who had won the event in 2004 and 2008.
Leah Smith, a US teammate who finished third and won the bronze medal, was not surprised.
Ryan Murphy provided the USA with its fourth gold medal of the Games by winning the men’s 100-meter backstroke.
The 27-year-old led from start to finish to win the gruelling multi-stroke event in a time of two minutes 06.58 seconds, just 0.46 outside the world record she set at last year’s world championships in Russian Federation.
Sjostrom finished second with a timing of 1:54.08 while the bronze went to Emma McKeon of Australia. On Sunday, she shattered the world record in the 400-meter individual medley to win gold.
Debbie Meyer is the only female swimmer to capture the three longest freestyle events at a single Olympics, winning the 200, 400 and 800 at Mexico City in 1968. Ledecky will swim in the 4 x 200-m freestyle relay tomorrow night, and defend the 800-m freestyle gold she won in London on Friday.
In addition to the 800, she’ll likely be the anchor on the 4×200 freestyle relay, another event where the Americans are a big favorite.
Teenage sensation Ledecky held off Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom to add the 200m freestyle crown to her previous success over 400m. “You just never know what she’s going to do next”. But the former Cal sprinter had the best time of 47.83 from lane 8.
Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky is in a league of her own. They have a shot to take all five individual golds, but it’s a tall task, even for this seemingly invincible crew.
“I would argue she is the world’s best athlete right now”, said the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Michael Joyner, an expert on human performance and exercise physiology. “I’m just so glad I got my hand on the wall first and it was all worth it”. “I couldn’t have gone any faster, it’s impossible”. “They are so different and she handles each one as they come”.
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This has been an Olympics of redemption for Hosszu, a long-time star at the world championships who always seemed to come up short on the biggest stage. When she swam the 400m and won over the weekend, she had begun her gold-medal celebration while most of the competitors were still completing their swims. “I gave it everything I had and it just wasn’t there”.
