Katie Ledecky and the 1,500: Medal history, number of laps and her untouchable lead

Swimming is generally one of the most popular Summer Olympics sports and the 2024 Paris Games are no different.

On Wednesday, there are five events with medal implications, including the 1,500-meter freestyle final -- where all eyes were on Team USA's Katie Ledecky.

Ledecky was an overwhelming favorite heading into the competition, highlighting how the American is second to none in the 1,500m contest. And she delivered, winning the gold medal in convincing fashion.

But why was Ledecky such a considerable front-runner? Has she won the 1,500-meter previously?

Katie Ledecky and the 1,500: Medal history

The 1,500m freestyle victory marks a record-tying 12th career Olympic medal for Ledecky. She joins Jenny Thompson, Natalie Coughlin and Dara Torres as the only U.S. women to accomplish the feat.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Ledecky won gold in the women's 1,500-meter for the first time. Nonetheless, she hasn't lost a freestyle race of this distance in 14 years. Now, she adds a second medal to her repertoire.

Katie Ledecky and the 1,500: Number of laps

A 1,500-meter heat is equivalent to swimming 30 laps in an Olympic pool. The fact that Ledecky can do this as quickly as she does is wildly impressive.

France's Anastasiia Kirpichnikova was the next-closest participant, finishing a colossal 10 seconds behind Ledecky's 15:30.02 time.

However, quantifying Ledecky's dominance in the 1,500-meter is straightforward, though it doesn't tell the complete story. Yes, we see all the numbers, but what exactly do they mean?

Here, we try to paint a better picture of how extraordinary Ledecky's 1,500-meter final performance is for the average fan.

Katie Ledecky and her untouchable lead at the 1,500

Seeing Ledecky finish substantially far ahead of her adversaries in the 1,500-meter freestyle has become an Olympic tradition. But in Layman's terms, how can we properly illustrate Ledecky's separation from the rest of the pack? 

At her pace on Wednesday, Ledecky swam roughly 98 meters per minute. So, her 10-second lead over Kirpichnikova would mean the latter has to cover approximately 10 meters of ground to surpass the former. That is a significant amount of space to make up in such a short span.

After another incredible effort from the 27-year-old aquatics star, Ledecky holds the 20 fastest 1,500-meter times in women's freestyle history! How is a stat like this real?