800 metres Freestyle, Women

Swimming World magazine predicted that this race would be over by 25 metres, if not by the time the swimmers took their blocks. Katie Ledecky was a prohibitive favorite. She was the defending champion, the 2013 and 2015 World Champion, the 2014 Pan-Pac Champion, and had never been defeated at 800 metres in international competition. She had already won gold in the 200 free, the 400 free, and anchored the USA to gold in the 4x200 free relay, so she was obviously in good form. The only major question was how fast she could swim. The world record of 8:06.68, which she held, was felt to have no shelf life, but what was possible for her – 8:04, 8:03, 8:02? The only other question was who would get the other medals.

In the prelims Ledecky posted 8:12.86, winning the heat by over 6½ seconds. In the final, if there was any doubt at all of her dominance, it was over by 100 metres, as she led Britain’s Jazz Carlin by almost two seconds. That lead was increased at each split, eventually winning in a world record 8:04.79, besting Carlin by 11.38 seconds, the largest margin in the event since Debbie Meyer won by 11.7 seconds in 1968, the first time it was held at the Olympics.

Ledecky’s 200-400-800 triple matched the feat of Meyer, who won the same events in 1968. Her four gold medals in Rio had been previously done, among women, by Kornelia Ender in 1976, Amy Van Dyken in 1996, and Missy Franklin in 2012, all trailing the six golds won by Kristin Otto in 1988. Her three individual golds made her the eighth woman to achieve this at one Olympics in swimming, also trailing Otto, who won four in 1988.