Rio 2016: Katie Ledecky wins gold, sets world record in 800m Freestyle

Katie Ledecky didn’t just win the gold medal in the Women’s 800m Freestyle, she obliterated the competition and shattered the world record

There’s dominant and then there’s whatever Katie Ledecky is in Olympics swimming. Team USA’s superstar in the making at the 2016 Rio Olympics already had gold to her credit coming into Friday. However, she hadn’t even competed in the final for her best event, the 800m Freestyle yet. That was on the docket for Friday night on Day 7 of the Games. And, well, the race ended about as soon as Katie Ledecky hit the pool.

That’s not to say that they didn’t race 16 lengths of the pool, because they did. However, Ledecky jumped out to an absolutely absurd lead right from the start. What makes her so insanely unstoppable in distance swimming, though, is the fact that she didn’t relent even a little bit. She kept further setting the break-neck pace and pulling farther away from the field.

When it was all said and done, Katie Ledecky was legitimately almost a half-length of the pool ahead of second place. More than that, she came in and touched the wall almost three seconds faster than the previous world record. It was also 12 seconds after Ledecky finished that the silver medalist finally touched the wall. If a 12-second win in the final of an Olympic race isn’t the sign of a juggernaut, I’m not sure what is.

In winning the gold medal in the 800m Freestyle, Ledecky obviously made history with her time and margin of victory. She also made history in regards to a single Olympic Games, though. The 19-year-old became only the second swimmer ever to win the 200m, 400m, and 800m in one Olympic Games, joining Debbie Meyer in 1968.

I don’t want to speak too soon, but I think Katie Ledecky might be here to stay.