Some athletes might’ve buckled under the pressure. She is also the the first woman since America’s Debbie Meyer in 1968 to take gold in the 200-, 400- and 800- meter freestyle, according to The New York Times.
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Ledecky finished 11.38 seconds ahead of the silver medalist from Britain Jazz Carlin and Carlin was just two-tenths of a second better than the bronze medalist from Hungary Boglarka Kapas.
Ledecky sliced 1.89 seconds off her own record in the longest event of the women’s swimming program.
So ahead of her pursuers was Ledecky that when she touched the wall the television cameras had to pan out to find the rest of the field some 20 meters back.
There will be few better stories of triumph from adversity at these Games than Anthony Ervin’s, who won gold in the 50m freestyle in 21.40sec – edging out defending champion France’s Florent Manaudou by 0.01sec – 16 years after achieving the same feat at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
For the first time since Sunday, he had only one race to swim.
DiRado rallied furiously on the final lap and got Hosszu at the touch to win in 2 minutes, 5.99 seconds.
United States’ Carli Lloyd lies on the ground during a quarter-final match of the women’s Olympic football tournament between the United States and Sweden in Brasilia Friday Aug. 12, 2016.
The first day of track and field yielded a couple firsts for the United States: Michelle Carter is not only the first female American to take gold in the shot put, but she and her father Michael (who won silver in 1984 before embarking on an National Football League career) are the first-ever father-daughter team to capture individual-event track and field medals. Not one to waste any time (obviously), she starts on September 9.
“We got a lot of young kids, and I think we showed how much talent they have here”, he said.
Michael Phelps didn’t win his final individual race, but the men’s 100 butterfly was still a spectacle to remember.
His butterfly semifinal started about 30 minutes after his brilliant swim in the 200 IM, and he also had to stand through a medal ceremony just before the race. “She’s beating me now, and I’m, like, ‘What is going on?'”
The most dominant performance of the entire week, however, was delivered by the prodigious American teenager Katie Ledecky. Ledecky is not sure yet what she’ll study, but she’s looking forward to being just another college freshman. I’ve never seen a female swimmer like that. “It’ll be tough leaving home, but I’m excited for the next chapter”.
“I feel very lucky to have gotten on the podium again”.
Ledecky, meanwhile, faced little opposition beyond her own history in the 800.
She’s in no hurry to turn professional and cash in on her success.
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She was sure ready for Rio, though.
