United States’ Katie Ledecky celebrates winning the gold medal in the women’s 400-meter freestyle setting a new world record during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ledecky isn’t the next Michael Phelps – she’s the first Katie Ledecky. She’s favored in the 200- and 800-meter freestyle events and will also swim as part of the gold medal favorite 4×200-meter freestyle relay team.
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Ledecky amazed in her global debut four years ago at the 2012 London Games, winning gold in the 800-meter freestyle, and has big goals for Rio.
It isn’t easy stepping out of the shadow of Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time.
In the summer of 2014, she became the first woman since Janet Evans to simultaneously hold world records in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle.
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On Sunday, she was looking to beat her previous time in the 400 free of 3:58.37, set in 2014. But in training, she turned her eyes toward categories in which she hadn’t previously dominated, namely the 200. The challenge when she swims those events here? “So she is improving so much and I think she is just trying to push that barrier, and I think it’s pretty exciting to watch her do that”. “This is the year we’ve been working toward for a couple of years now”. She can join Amy van Dyken and Missy Franklin as the only American women to earn four gold medals in a single Olympics. Debbie Meyer did it in 1968.
