Paris Olympics, Day 5 Finals: Katie Ledecky Dominates 1500 Freestyle in Olympic Record, Swims Eighth-Fastest Time Ever

Katie Ledecky with her eighth Olympic gold medal -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Paris Olympics, Day 5 Finals: Katie Ledecky Dominates 1500 Freestyle in Olympic Record, Swims Eighth-Fastest Time Ever

At this stage in her career, Katie Ledecky lacks the speed to keep pace with her rivals in the 400 freestyle. Her dominance over 800 meters has been threatened, with Summer McIntosh beating Ledecky at a low-key meet in Orlando earlier this year and Ariarne Titmus a threat this week in Paris.

But when Ledecky contests the 1500, the scene has been strikingly similar for more than a decade: up by more than a bodylength after 50 meters, pulling further away every lap, winning in dominant fashion. She is a master at many crafts (distances), but this 30-lap race is where Ledecky excels most naturally, where her virtuosity matches the artwork scattered throughout the city in which she just won gold No. 8.

In this latest Olympic title, the American destroyed the field by 10 seconds, swimming a time of 15:30.02 to take five seconds off the Olympic record she set three years ago in Tokyo. As Ledecky touched the wall and saw her result, she slammed the water in joy, having clocked the eighth-fastest time ever.

“I was just happy with the time and happy with how it felt,” Ledecky said. “Any gold medal, it’s not easy to win, so I’m just trying to appreciate it, appreciate the moment. I don’t mean to celebrate that much, but it comes out. The happiness, the joy, it just comes out.”

World Record: Katie Ledecky, USA – 15:20.48 (2018)
Olympic Record: Katie Ledecky, USA – 15:35.35 (2021)
Tokyo Olympic Champion: Katie Ledecky, USA – 15:37.34

After 50 meters, Ledecky was already nine tenths ahead of the field, one-and-a-half seconds clear of anyone else after 100. In the opening stages of the race, the world record came into play, with Ledecky splitting as much as seven tenths under her own pace from 2018, and she remained just under the split time through the 500-meter mark.

Katie Ledecky — Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia

After that, her splits crept up to 31-mids, dooming any chance at the world record, but an Olympic record and a time that ranks upon the all-time top-10 was within her grasp. As Ledecky repeated her splits lap after lap, her thoughts drifted to the male teammates who she has trained with at Florida for the past three years, including Olympians Bobby Finke and Kieran Smith. She thought of their sets of 50-meter repeats, where they pushed her to hold her pace on short rest.

“I tried to use that as confidence and just do it for them,” Ledecky said. “I know I make their lives hard some days, but they made my life a lot easier today. Just fun to share these moments with people like that.

Her split of final 29.14 was not enough to get her under the 15:30-barrier, but that did not bother Ledecky as she defended her title in a stellar time and returned to the gold-medal podium for the first time in Paris. She recorded a time that she has only surpassed twice since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, both instances last year.

As for the swimmers posturing for position behind Ledecky, three quickly distinguished themselves from everyone else: France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, Italy’s Simona Quadarella and Germany’s Isabel Gose. Kirpichnikova, who represented Russia internationally for the first portion of her career, turned in second place from the beginning and eventually built more than a bodylength lead on the other two.

As the podium came within reach, French crowd resumed their chants of “Allez les Bleus!” and exploded as Kirpichnikova claimed silver in 15:40.35. That time moved her to fourth all-time in the event behind Ledecky, Lotte Friis and Lauren Boyle, and she is the fastest swimmer aside from Ledecky since 2015.

Bronze came down to the final few lengths after Gose and Quadarella swam nearly in lockstep, but the German pulled away down the stretch to earn the final spot on the podium in 15:41.16, moving to sixth all-time among performers. Quadarella settled for fourth in 15:44.06.

More History For Greatest of All Time

Ledecky now owns the 20 fastest performances in history, and her world record of 15:20.48 is more than 18 seconds clear of any other swimmer in history. The only time another swimmer broke 15:40 was 11 years ago, in the race when a 16-year-old Ledecky broke the first world record of her career.

Three years ago, Ledecky won the inaugural Olympic gold in this event by merely four seconds while swimming fatigued after racing the 200 free final earlier in the session. This time, the 27-year-old from Bethesda, Md., was fresh and ready to attack. And this one brought yet another slice of history to add to Ledecky’s ledger.

The performance gives Ledecky her 12th Olympic medal, which moves her into a tie for most all-time among American female Olympians, regardless of sport, alongside three other legendary swimmers, Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin. Among swimmers from any country, Ledecky’s 12th is also record-tying, joining the three Americans plus Australia’s Emma McKeon, who won her 12th medal in Australia’s golden 400 free relay Saturday evening.

Katie Ledecky celebrates her gold medal in the 1500 freestyle — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

“I try not to think about history very much,” Ledecky said. “I know those names, those people that I’m up with. They’re swimmers that I looked up to when I first started swimming. It’s an honor to be named among them. I’m grateful to them for inspiring me and so many great swimmers over the years in the U.S. that have helped me get to this moment.”

The gold was the eighth of Ledecky’s career, a mark that only five other Olympians have ever surpassed. Of course, former teammate Michael Phelps won 23 in his career, but the next-highest total is nine, shared by Americans Mark Spitz (swimming) and Carl Lewis (track and field), Finland’s Paavo Nurmi (track and field) and the Soviet Union’s Larisa Latynina (gymnastics). If Ledecky can claim another gold in either the 800 free relay or 800 free, she will join that legendary group.

In Ledecky’s Paris debut in the 400 free, she was never in contention for gold and even struggled compared to her typical times. Earning bronze at 4:00.86, it was the first time in her career that Ledecky did not break 4:00 in an international final of the event, and she was two-and-a-half seconds slower than she swam at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month.

But with two days off and very different energy systems to use in the races to come, Ledecky was not concerned. “I don’t think there’s a lot that I can or anyone can read from this race going into the 800 or 1500,” she said Saturday evening. But after clinching gold in the 1500, Ledecky admitted that she felt confusion throughout her first three races of the Games why her times were slower than they felt. She admitted that doubt entered her mind.

“I would say even after my prelim yesterday, I just was feeling those first three swims, each one of them felt faster than the time,” Ledecky said. “I think doubts enter your mind. You just try to stay positive through it all. It’s kind of been like how it’s been all year for me in training. There’s so many ups-and-downs. Coach (Anthony) Nesty and all my coaches do a really good job of keeping me steady, keeping me on track, reminding me to trust the process”

Ledecky stuck to that philosophy and remained steady, allowing her to surpass her previous season-best time of 15:37.35 by more than seven seconds.

As Ledecky continues to excel in a race most swimmers in their late-20s ardently avoid, Ledecky’s embrace of the 1500 is emblematic of her status of the greatest female swimmer in history, a claim no longer in dispute. Maybe another swimmer or two can beat her in the shorter distances, but here, she will out-work and outlast anyone who tries. For another year, her distance dominance lives on.

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David Abineri

27 days ago

I would contest the notion that Ledecky is ” the greatest female swimmer in history”. She is certainly the greatest 1500m wimmer in history but I am confident that her world records will eventually be broken.

On the other hand Shane Gould’s achievement of owning the world record in the 100m, 200m, 400m 800m and 1500m simultaneously will never be done again, I predict. To me she is the ” the greatest female swimmer in history”.