As she swam the 800-meter freestyle – a race that no American woman had won in a dozen years – most reporters had their attention turned to Michael Phelps, who had just finished what everyone thought was his final individual Olympic race.
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Ledecky has won a total of five medals at the Rio Olympics – gold medals for the 200-meter, 400-meter and 800-meter freestyles and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and silver for the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Her closest rival, Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas, was almost seven seconds slower in 8:19.43 with Britain’s Jazz Carlin third in 8:19.67.
Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas took bronze (8:16.37) at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Katie Ledecky: star swimmer and gold prospector.
Jazz Carlin claimed a second silver medal from Rio 2016 after chasing home the unbelievable Katie Ledecky in the 800m freestyle.
She has dominated the longer freestyle events since winning gold in the 800 free at the London Olympics as a 15-year-old. “The way she swims is very much the way I tried to swim”.
“We’ve had a great first few days and we are looking to build on that”, she said.
Download the Team USA app today for breaking news, 2016 U.S. Olympic Team bios, videos and more. The New York Times points out that Ledecky can’t leave her lane until the others finish. Regardless, she managed to take home a gold medal for the 800-meter freestyle.
“The Olympics are the pinnacle of our sport, and I have to wait another four years to have that moment, and I just wanted to enjoy it”, Ledecky said.
Photos of Ledecky casually hanging out near the swim lane ropes after finishing-while all other swimmers are still racing-have become popular on social media over the last week.
Ledecky is age 19 right now, and is expected to appear again at the 2020 Olympics. I love seeing the way she attacks things.
United States’ Simone Biles bites her gold medal for the artistic gymnastics women’s individual all-around final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug. 11, 2016. “That really meant a lot to me”.
No matter for Ledecky, who has set her records since the ban. She went on to win, adding another gold to match the medals she won in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle.
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Ledecky’s coach, Bruce Gemmell, said, “Her biggest internal motivator is getting better, it’s raising the bar”.
