United States’ Michael Phelps reacts after the men’s 100-meter butterfly final during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 12, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Some athletes might’ve buckled under the pressure. She has a wonderful family, has everything, really, that she wants; she’s a attractive person with seemingly no dark sides.
Katie Ledecky destroyed her own world record in the 800-meter freestyle event Friday, earning her a fourth gold medal at this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio.
“I’m not going four more years and I’m standing by that”, he said.
Ledecky became the first woman since Debbie Meyer to sweep the three longer freestyle events at the same Olympics.
She is the first Olympian to take the 200m, 400m and 800m gold at one Games since another United States teenager, Debbie Meyer, achieved the feat at Mexico City in 1968 – the year the 800m was added to the programme.
In recent days, Meyer’s been texting with Ledecky’s’ mom, Mary Gen.
It clearly wasn’t a serious ailment: To say Ledecky left the competition in her wake would obscure the fact that much of her wake had settled by the time the other swimmers came along. “But joining Debbie in that history is incredible”.
Ledecky also became only the third American woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympics, following fellow swimmers Amy Van Dyken (1996) and Missy Franklin (2012).
Before the Rio Games began, Ledecky was asked if breaking the eight-minute barrier was within her reach.
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“It feels like gold that I’m after her”, she said of Ledecky. Portland’s Galen Rupp is also seeking a gold after winning a silver medal in London in four years ago.
Joining Ledecky in the race was teammate Leah Smith, who took sixth place in 8:20.95.
Ledecky led from the start and inexorably stretched out the gap over her opponents to finish in eight minutes, 4.79 seconds, beating her previous mark of 8:06.68 set in Austin, Texas in January.
“The best team did not win today”, she said. And then, nearly as an afterthought, she added, “I still say anything is possible”.
Jazz Karlin finally touched in 8:16.17 to claim the silver, just ahead of Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas grabbing the bronze in 8:16.37. He said he was honored just to swim a final with the greatest ever.
Ledecky was barely breathing hard. The win gave her four gold medals – three individual – to go along with the silver she won as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay in Brazil. “She’s obviously someone I’m very excited to look forward to watching race”. But Ledecky was still alone at her end of the pool.
When Sarah Sjostrom – who has had a strong Olympics showing of her own – lost to Ledecky in the 200m freestyle earlier this week, she said she was content. While her rivals splash around, Ledecky twists through the water as if she’s being pulled by some hidden line.
After putting off college for a year to focus on the Olympics, she’ll head to Stanford in the fall and join fellow US teammates Simone Manuel and Leah Smith. “We said when we get there, we’re going to medal”, Hernandez said. “I am heading home in a couple of days and I’ll have to get all my stuff for my dorm and get everything ready”. “That really meant a lot to me”.
She shared some tears with Gemmell, the coach who stepped in so seamlessly after the London Games and was so instrumental to her success. Like I said, hats off to Joe.
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