Bethesda’s Katie Ledecky smashed her own world record in the women’s 400-meter freestyle Sunday, winning her first gold medal at the Rio games a day after winning a silver medal as part of the U.S. 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.
There’s breaking the WR, then there’s demolishing it. @KatieLedecky did the latter. #Goldhttps://t.co/BWGaUNiTHM https://t.co/ievrdx89tH
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2016
Her 400-meter time of three minutes 56.46 seconds was well under her previous world record of 3:58.37. She finished so far ahead her next closest competitors, she was able to turn around and look for her time before anyone else finished the race.
Here’s Katie Ledecky celebrating before anyone else finished the race https://t.co/fJPfXFgsWj pic.twitter.com/vwA9SYe5X4
— Brett LoGiurato (@BrettLoGiurato) August 8, 2016
Next up for Ledecky is the 200-meter freestyle, thought to be her toughest individual event, which starts with preliminary heats at 12:22 p.m. Monday.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström has the fastest 200-meter time this year: 1:54.34. Ledecky’s fastest 200-meter time this year is 1:54.43. Ledecky won the 200-meter at the 2015 World Championships in Russia with a time of 1:55.16. Sjöström didn’t swim in that event.
Here’s more on Ledecky:
Rachael Larimore of the Dallas Morning News asks, why isn’t one of Ledecky’s best events part of the Olympic games?
The New York Times provides a graphic representation of Ledecky’s 400-meter swim.
Despite the team finishing second, Ledecky made a strong showing in the 100-meter relay despite not being known as a short-distance swimmer.
Bethesda’s Ashley Nee, a kayaker in her first Olympics, will start her competition schedule at 12:10 p.m. Monday with the first of two runs through the women’s K-1 whitewater course. The events can be seen live beginning at 11:30 p.m. on NBCOlympics.com.
Nee is considered a darkhorse medal contender, according to NBC.
