Sports
KATIE Ledecky of the U.S on Saturday in Paris made more Olympic Games history as she claimed a record-breaking ninth women’s swimming gold medal.
She win in the 800 metres freestyle and now has one gold medal more than compatriot and previous record holder Jenny Thompson.
Ledecky has also equalled the overall female Olympic record of nine gold medals, held by Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina.
The American became the seventh Olympian, in any sport, to win four consecutive gold medals in an individual event.
It is a group that includes compatriot and swimming icon Michael Phelps, who won 23 gold medals in his career.
“Given that Michael is the only one that’s ever done that (in swimming), shows how difficult that is. I think especially in the 800m.
“It’s a lot of miles. Year after year trying to put in the work. I wouldn’t have pictured that in 2012,” Ledecky said.
Earlier this week, she had become the first female swimmer to win gold medals at four Olympics with a win in the 1,500m freestyle.
She now now has 14 Olympic medals in her trophy cabinet.
Ledecky and Australia’s Ariarne Titmus were in a league of their own throughout the entire race.
But this was until the American started to push to take a comfortable lead before eventually winning in eight minutes 11.04 seconds.
Titmus, who already had 400m freestyle gold medal, claimed silver but only after a tight fight with American Paige Madden.
She closed the gap in the final 300 metres but had to settle for bronze.
During the medal ceremony, Ledecky invited a very emotional Madden to share the top spot of the podium with her.
“That was one of the best moments of my life, and testament to Katie’s character, and the pride we have for Team USA. I’ll be so thankful she did that forever,” Madden said.
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old Summer McIntosh had an incredible recovery in the final metres of the women’s 200-metre individual medley.
It helped her to win her third gold medal at the Paris Games and become Canada’s first triple gold medallist in an Olympic Games.
McIntosh prevailed in a tight fight with Kate Douglass of the U.S to set a new Olympic record of 2:06.56 minutes.
Douglass, who already had 200m breaststroke gold medal, took silver, 0.36 seconds behind.
“Literally I cannot be happier right now,” McIntosh said.
“For sure it was painful. Winning gets rid of all the pain. I was screaming at myself under water a few times because I could tell that I was behind.
“I knew that I just had to keep going and pushing in those last 10 metres,” she said of the final 50m.
The U.S had initially also claimed bronze through Alex Walsh but she was disqualified because she flipped too early in the turn from backstroke to breaststroke.
The medal went to Australia’s Kaylee McKeown, her third medal in Paris after 100m and 200m backstroke gold medals.
McIntosh previously claimed 200m butterfly and 400m medley gold medals at the Paris Games.
In the men’s 100m butterfly, Hungary’s Kristóf Milák claimed his second medal at the Paris Olympics with a gold medal.
In an extremely tight fight, Milák touched the wall just 0.09 seconds before second-placed Joshua Liendo of Canada.
Milák won 100m silver at Tokyo 2020 and a 200m silver in Paris.
The Canadian team also took bronze through Ilya Kharun, who completed a butterfly bronze double after also finishing the 200m in third.
World and Olympic records holder and Tokyo 2020 winner Caeleb Dressel of the U.S failed to qualify to the final.
Also, the U.S clocked a world record 3:37.43 minutes to take Olympic gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay at the Paris Games.
It was an improvement of 0.15 seconds from the previous world record, which belonged to Britain.
The Chinese team took silver while Australia claimed bronze.
France sensation Leon Marchand, who won four individual gold medals at his home Games, had to settle for fourth with his team-mates.
This is only the second world record set at the Paris Games.
The other came from China’s Pan Zhanle in the men’s 100m freestyle.
Already athletes, experts and coaches have been debating why has it been so hard to see world records in France.
One theory for the slower-than-expected times appears to be a pool that is slightly shallower than the optimal depth.
That creates more waves and turbulence rolling up to the surface.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström clocked a new Olympic record of 23.66s in the semi-finals of the women’s 50m freestyle.
The final takes place on Sunday, the last day of swimming competitions at the Paris Games.
The schedule also includes finals in the men’s 1,500 freestyle and in both men and women’s 4x100m medley relay.(dpa/NAN)
Photo Caption: Katie Ledecky
4th August, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Katie Ledecky
