Ledecky finished Friday’s 800-meter freestyle final in 8:04.79, winning by more than 11 seconds and breaking the world record by almost two; it’s the fifth time she has lowered the mark since her surprise victory in this event at the London Olympics. Meyer took the 200, 400 and 800 at the 1968 Games, and Ledecky matched that performance with two world records as well.
Advertisement
Carlin knows silver was the best she could ever get against Ledecky, who also beat her in the 400m and whose 800m time of eight minutes 4.79 seconds nearly knocked two seconds off her own world record.
She already has three golds to her name at Rio 2016, and has blown the rest of the field away en route to lighting up the Aquatics Stadium.
In a sport where a second or two can be the difference between a gold medal and last-place finish, she beat second-place Jazz Carlin of Britain by more than 11 seconds.
Kapas lead after the second final turn before Carlin found another gear to close the gap and use her last boost off the wall to her full advantage. The slim margin separating second and third threw into sharp relief the dominance of Ledecky, who owns the 13 fastest performances in history. Kazakhstan claimed its first-ever swimming medal – a gold one, at that – when Dmitriy Balandin pulled off a stunning upset in the 200 breaststroke.
Her time of 8:04.79 broke her own record by 1.89 seconds.
She also won a silver medal in the 4×100-meter relay.
Ledecky has done more than just win the 800-meter freestyle in these Olympics. “I’m just honored and privileged to have the chance to race alongside him”. In fact, Ledecky began swimming at age 6 to follow in her big bother’s footsteps. “It brings back so many wonderful memories of when I was swimming, things that this old brain has forgotten”.
Saturday night, when it was all over, King looked back on her week.
“I’m just so happy”. The bronze went to Canada’s Hilary Caldwell.
Dirado pipped Hosszu by six-hundredths of a second after the Hungarian had appeared to be on her way to victory to add to those in the 100m backstroke and the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
“We each had American flags and they printed out each of the events, and the people that were competing in each of those events came forward, had a little moment together, took the flag and stuck it through the paper and into the grass in the Olympic village”, she said.
Advertisement
Nadal already has one Olympic gold to his name, courtesy of a singles triumph over Fernando Gonzalez in Beijing, and topping the podium once again would be a welcome boost following a tumultuous period for the 14-time major victor. Her mother and brother are also swimmers, the bio says.
