Caeleb Dressel has more swimming to do in Tokyo. Katie Ledecky says she\u2019ll be back in Paris in 2024.<\/p>\n
It was the Katie and Caeleb Show, an ongoing series at swimming, as the Americans continued their medal haul at the Olympics.<\/p>\n
Caeleb Dressel won his third gold medal of these Olympics, setting a world record in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 49.45 seconds. He will look for his fourth gold on Sunday, the meet\u2019s final day, in the 50-meter fly.<\/p>\n
Katie Ledecky finished her meet at the Tokyo Games with a gold medal in one of her signature races, the women\u2019s 800-meter freestyle, becoming the first swimmer to win the event in three consecutive Olympics.<\/p>\n
She finished in 8 minutes 12.57 seconds, beating rival Ariarne Titmus of Australia by 1.26 seconds. And while Ledecky is finished in Tokyo, floating away with two gold medals (the other in the 1,500 free) and two silver medals, she said she is already looking forward to the 2024 Olympics in Paris, just three years away, and toying with the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m definitely going through Paris,\u201d Ledecky said. \u201cAnd maybe beyond, as well. We\u2019ll see.\u201d
Women\u2019s 800-Meter Freestyle<\/p>\n
Her four medals in Tokyo give her 10 total across three Olympics, including seven golds and three silvers.<\/p>\n
Ledecky, 24, already held the Olympic and world record in the event, established at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Back then, she swam it in a blistering 8:04.79, winning by nearly 12 seconds. In Rio, it was the last of her four gold medals, to go with one silver.<\/p>\n
But this is a different Ledecky and a different time. She remained the slight favorite, and her qualifying time of 8:15.67 would have still won in Brazil five years ago. Rivals are closing in, including Katie Grimes, her 15-year-old United States teammate, an heir apparent, perhaps, in some of Ledecky\u2019s best events.<\/p>\n
\nGrimes finished fourth, behind bronze medalist Simona Quadarella of Italy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
But Titmus has become Ledecky\u2019s primary rival at the moment. She beat Ledecky in two other individual events here, the 200 free (where Ledecky was fifth) and the 400 free (Ledecky earned silver, missing gold by 0.67 seconds).<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m really, really thrilled to have that kind of competition,\u201d Ledecky said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that fuels me, and I know it fuels her as well. And I hope that I can keep up and stay competitive here moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Ledecky said she was \u201creally happy\u201d with her meet in Tokyo, which also included a rare fifth-place finish in the 200 free. She was motivated to finish with a win in the 800 free.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really just wanted to end on a really good note,\u201d she said. \u201cI just knew it would just linger with me if I ended on a bad note, so I just tried to use that as motivation to finish on the best stone possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dressel finished the 100 fly on the best possible note \u2014 a world record \u2014 but had more swimming to do. He cruised through a semifinal heat in the 50 free, and will be favored to win another gold on the meet\u2019s last day.<\/p>\n
He then joined the American team in the final of the inaugural mixed 4×100 medley relay, swimming free in the final leg, but it was not enough to earn the United States a medal. Britain won, with a world record, followed by China and Australia.<\/p>\n
The United States was fifth, three seconds behind the winners.<\/p>\n
But Dressel has not lost any individual events. In the 100 fly, Dressel already held the world record (49.5 seconds, in 2019) and the Olympic record (49.71, Friday). Kristof Milak of Hungary, the gold medalist in the 200 fly, swam to Dressel\u2019s left, and Dressel suspected that is where his closest competition would be.<\/p>\n
He was right. Milak followed Dressel to the finish, touching in 49.68, a European record.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
Katie Ledecky ended her Tokyo Olympics with a flourish.<\/h2>\n\n\n
The American swimming star cruised to a third consecutive Olympic gold in the women’s 800-meter freestyle Saturday. It marked her final race of the Tokyo Olympics and sends the most decorated female swimmer of all time home from these Games with two gold medals (she also won the 1,500-meter freestyle) and silvers in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay and the women’s 400 freestyle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really just wanted to end on a really good note,\u201d Ledecky said. \u201cI just knew it would linger with me if I ended on a bad note. I tried to use that as motivation to finish on the best note possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding to Team USA’s medal haul was Caeleb Dressel, who set a new world record in the men’s 100 butterfly to secure his third gold of these Games.<\/p>\n
Katie Ledecky ended her Tokyo Olympics with a flourish.<\/p>\n
The American swimming star cruised to a third consecutive Olympic gold in the women’s 800-meter freestyle Saturday. It marked her final race of the Tokyo Olympics and sends the most decorated female swimmer of all time home from these Games with two gold medals (she also won the 1,500-meter freestyle) and silvers in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay and the women’s 400 freestyle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really just wanted to end on a really good note,\u201d Ledecky said. \u201cI just knew it would linger with me if I ended on a bad note. I tried to use that as motivation to finish on the best note possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding to Team USA’s medal haul was Caeleb Dressel, who set a new world record in the men’s 100 butterfly to secure his third gold of these Games.<\/p>\n
Katie Ledecky reacts after winning the women’s 800-meter freestyle
GRACE HOLLARS, USA TODAY SPORTS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\n
USA\u2019s Katie Ledecky Three-Peats And Wins Olympic Gold Again In 800 Meter Freestyle<\/h2>\n\n\n
American swimmer Katie Ledecky is once again the Olympic champion at the 800 meter freestyle.<\/p>\n
She touched the wall first at 8:12.57, besting her Australian rival Ariarne Titmus who cruised to silver at 8:13.83. Italy\u2019s Simona Quadarella took the bronze. American Katie Grimes was fourth.<\/p>\n
It was Ledecky\u2019s second individual gold at the Tokyo Olympics, after her win in the 1,500 meter freestyle.<\/p>\n
And it was another showdown between Ledecky and Titmus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really, really thrilled to have that kind of competition and something that fuels me. And I know it fuels her as well,\u201d Ledecky said of the rivalry.<\/p>\n
She won silver behind Titmus in the 400 meter freestyle. Titmus also won gold in the 200 meter freestyle, a race in which Ledecky placed fifth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew she was just going to be lurking there the whole time,\u201d Ledecky said after the race today. \u201cAnd I knew I had to have a little gap because if we were neck and neck going in the last 100, I know she has that finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ledecky won Olympic gold in the 800 meter freestyle in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to win one gold, and to do it three times in a row in that event is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the end for Ledecky. She plans to try to compete at the Paris Olympics in 2024 \u2014 \u201cand maybe beyond as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\u2018It\u2019s been an honour\u2019: How Ledecky, Titmus beguiled the world in Tokyo<\/h2>\n\n\n
Before the Tokyo Games, the dynamic between Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus was portrayed as distant, icy even, as they carefully circled each other from afar before their inevitable confrontation in the Olympic waters.<\/p>\n
Through the American lens, Titmus\u2019 overt reverence for Ledecky was decoded as a clumsy tactic to decrease the pressure bearing down on a nervous Olympic rookie. From the Australian perspective, Ledecky\u2019s tendency to sparsely acknowledge Titmus was construed to be dismissive, bordering on disparaging.<\/p>\n
Now we know better, because we have come to know both of them better over the past week. In the case of Ledecky, the walls have been lowered like never before, showing a vulnerability and fragility that didn\u2019t mesh with the image of a merciless Swimbot 3000 programmed to not just beat opponents but break them.<\/p>\n
Titmus would be offered a seat at the table of Olympic giants and accept with humility and wisdom beyond her 20 years. They leave inextricably bonded through a series of mighty races that captivated the sporting world. Then, when it was all over, they charmed it side by side.Ledecky and Titmus would field questions after both of their programs ended with a brutal 800m freestyle. Titmus took the 200m and the 400m, but the longer distance is in the heart of Ledecky country. Nobody has encroached for nearly a decade and that wasn\u2019t about to change.<\/p>\n
She took it out hard, fired to the front and stayed there for the duration. Titmus tried to lift over the final 100m but simply couldn\u2019t bridge the gap as Ledecky churned her way towards a sixth individual Olympic gold medal, the most of any swimmer in history.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, they spoke of what their now-storied rivalry had meant in Tokyo and where it might lead in the future. Titmus has been floored by Ledecky\u2019s ferocity and endurance through a program of swims once thought beyond the realms of mere mortals, while Ledecky was thankful, bordering on relieved, that a worthy adversary has finally ascended to her cruising altitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first Olympics. I know how tough it has been to get here, how tough it is to win a gold medal, especially when I feel like I probably have the hardest person to beat in my races,\u201d Titmus said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been overwhelming for me this week, it\u2019s tough. This is different from any other meet I\u2019ve done. The whole hype around the Olympics just adds that extra tiredness and emotional drain.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo look at Katie and see what she has achieved at three Olympics, I would dream of that. I\u2019m going to take a break and reflect on what I\u2019ve done here. I want to have longevity in my swimming career, so I want to soak it in while I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ledecky was on a similar train of thought. Before Titmus arrived, she knew nobody trained as hard as her, wanted to win as much as her, or had a pathological need to be better and faster every time she raced. In the young Australian, she sees parts of herself and understands the sacrifices that have been made at every level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand the work that it takes to get to this point and swim the times that we\u2019re swimming. There\u2019s a respect for the work. For the athlete, the coaches, the families,\u201d Ledecky said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have somebody right there, you have that mutual respect. We\u2019re very friendly. There\u2019s nothing between us, we\u2019re just going to keep moving forward and follow our own paths and work towards our own goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we happen to get side by side, we\u2019re going to have great races and be fierce competitors. But I hope we always have a great respect for each other. It\u2019s been an honour and a privilege to race her.\u201d<\/p>\n
The truth is, both Titmus and Ledecky needed each other ahead of such a disrupted Games, one that had been postponed and twisted to fit a pandemic. In their respective nations, they have only the seconds on the clock to keep them company in competition. Simply knowing the other was out there, grinding away in a distant pool or gym, was more than enough to fire the competitive senses.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe swam so fast at her trials. I was a little off at my trials, she really pushed me to work really hard. I wanted to deliver, I wanted to have that great race in the 400,\u201d Ledecky said. \u201cI wanted to be up there and give her a great race. I think we really pushed each other. Not just this week but over the past five years.<\/p>\n
\u201c(It\u2019s) just knowing that we are both out there working hard to get to this point and these races.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ledecky is 24 and will take the most deserving of breaks before returning to training. She has already committed to the Paris Games in 2024 and perhaps a home Games in Los Angeles in 2028. She joked that Titmus should aim for Brisbane 2032, by which time she will be in her early 30s.<\/p>\n
More pressing is their rematch at the FINA World Championships in just 12 months\u2019 time. It will be held back in Japan and Ledecky may well trim down her program – perhaps cull the 200m – to try and claw back her cherished 400m crown.<\/p>\n
Titmus will be ready and no longer can she claim to be the one doing the stalking. That changes the paradigm once more as the two best swimming nations in the world prepare to once again watch and wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nKatie Ledecky Wins Another Gold But Has Even Better News<\/h2>\n\n\n
The U.S. swim star captured the 800 meter freestyle, then let the cat out of the bag.<\/h4>\n
Katie Ledecky won the 800 meter freestyle at her third straight Olympics on Saturday but offered perhaps even better news for U.S. swim fans: She isn\u2019t done burning up the pool at future Olympics if she can help it.<\/p>\n
More on that in a bit. First, enjoy her victory over Australian rival Ariarne Titmus to bring her Tokyo gold medal count to two and career tally to seven. She has 10 medals overall.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\n\n