Katie Ledecky won her first gold medal of the Tokyo Games on Wednesday, dominating the 1,500-meter freestyle, just as she was expected to. For Ledecky, the 1,500 victory in 15 minutes 37.34 seconds capped off a busy morning at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. It came a little more than an hour after she suffered the biggest disappointment of her Olympic career as she failed to get on the podium in the 200-meter freestyle race. Erica Sullivan of the United States finished second in 15:41.41, more than four seconds behind Ledecky but good enough for silver. This was the first time women have been able to race at 1,500 meters at the Olympic Games, even though men have been competing at the distance for decades.

Source: New York Times July 28, 2021 03:13 UTC