She will leave Rio as the third American woman with four gold medals in any sport at a single Olympics.
Advertisement
The gold was Ledecky’s fourth in Rio, completing her sweep of the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle races, capping off one of the greatest performances in Olympic swimming history.
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.
Four gold medals and two world records later, Ledecky surpassed all expectation.
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. Cameramen covering the event did not even have her competitors in the frame. Singapore’s Joseph Schooling beat Phelps for his country’s first-ever gold.
Usain Bolt wins gold in the 100 meters in Olympic record time.
“The objective was 8:05 or better”, she said. You’d be insane to say there never will be again – but if there is, they’re going to have a very hard act to follow.
“I had a lot of fun tonight”, Ledecky said of her win.
When it was over Friday night, the emotions bubbled over as Ledecky wept in the mixed zone – a catharsis hard-won after untold hours of dedication to a set of goals that, one by one this week, were achieved. It was all because of her roommate, Simone Manuel.
The Washington Nationals didn’t have their best night by a long shot on Friday when they lost to the last-place Atlanta Braves, 8-5, for the first time this season.
“Just kind of the end of a 4-year journey”, she said as the tears flowed.
While Ledecky plans to get even faster for Tokyo in 2020 after spending her collegiate years training at Stanford, she is still living in the moment that delivered five Olympic medals.
Ervin won his first gold in the 50-metres freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in a dead heat with compatriot Gary Hall Jr, before leaving the sport to pursue a love of rock music.
Day seven of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games was bittersweet to say the least.
Where does Ledecky go from here?
In 2013, Ledecky broke it, by.24 sec, with a time of 8:13.86. “She’s not afraid, and her mind is open to everything”.
Advertisement
“A three-way tie is pretty wild”, Phelps said. “I like racing Michael” – Schooling reveals that he asked Phelps to reconsider his retirement after denying him his 23rd career Olympic gold. The No. 1 male archer in the world at the time, Ellison was part of a team silver medal at London 2012 but didn’t win his first individual medal until Friday. For Phelps, however, this was his last individual career swim and he’ll have to do with his 22 gold medals that he’s already earned. His legs felt leaden but his heart was light. If someone had told me four years ago you’d have been stood on the podium twice with two silver medals I’d have said there’s no way.
