Katie Ledecky was back to being her dominant self on Wednesday as she won gold in the 1500-meter freestyle in emphatic fashion. Visuals of how far ahead of the field she was were staggering.
Ledecky won the race in an Olympic record time of 15:30.02, finishing more than 10 seconds ahead of her closest competition. As is typical in Ledecky's 1500-meter races, she was so far ahead her opponents were often not even in the picture.
Here are a few shots of how far ahead she got.
smh pic.twitter.com/gaavR2yWnh
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 31, 2024
Making it to the OLYMPICS only to see Katie Ledecky swimming past you in the opposite direction has to be an incredibly humbling feeling pic.twitter.com/xv9ox4sOqg
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) July 31, 2024
Katie Ledecky has knocked the competition out of the camera frame. She's swimming by herself. pic.twitter.com/yHgWo5VNjV
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 31, 2024
Utter dominance from Katie Ledecky pic.twitter.com/AZVNhllaEn
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 31, 2024
Ledecky now owns the 20 fastest times in the history of the women's 1500-meter freestyle. It truly is her race.
Katie Ledecky: Pretty good at the 1500 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/hCdKynGw25
— Mitch Goldich 🐙 (@mitchgoldich) July 31, 2024
France's Anastasiya Kirpichnikova earned the silver medal with a time of 15:40.35, and Germany's Isabel Gose won bronze at 15:41.16.
Ledecky's big victory ensured eighth Olympic gold medal, tying her with Jenny Thompson for the most by a female swimmer. Her 12 total medals also tie Thompson for the most among female swimmers. She'll have a chance to take sole possession in both categories with the 800-meter freestyle in a few days. She is the three-time defending gold medalist in that race.
Ledecky previously won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle this Olympics, losing to Australian rival Ariarne Titmus. She'll face Titmus again in the 800 meters.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wild Photo Shows Katie Ledecky With Another Laughably Big Lead in 1500M Final.
