Katie Ledecky wins Gold in 1,500m freestyle

On Jul 28, 2021

Katie Ledecky raced away from the rest of the field to win the first Women’s Olympic 1,500m freestyle gold in Tokyo, Japan yesterday.

Having competed in the Women’s 200m freestyle final little over an hour earlier, Ledecky won the 1,500m freestyle by about 10m.

The 24-year-old swimmer, who was the favourite for gold, covered the metric mile at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in 15:37.34s, which is slightly slower than the Olympic record of 15:35.35s in the heats.

Ledecky’s teammate Erica Sullivan came home for the Silver Medal, giving the USA another one-two finish in the pool.

Sullivan, who was in fifth place at the halfway stage, clawed her way back past her rivals to finish with the Silver in 15:41.41s. Germany’s Sarah Kohler finished a further 1.60s behind to claim the bronze.

Great Britain headed the 4x200m relay today and eclipsed favourites USA to win Gold whilst also setting a new European record of 6:58.58.

Whilst the USA made a strong start in the first leg of the race, Duncan Scott saved the day when he pulled a huge lead at the last 100m metres of the race, helping Britain secure its first gold a century after it won in London 1908.

This victory has been a long-time coming for Great Britain who have been a consistent podium finisher but never a Gold Medal holder.

In Rio 2016, they claimed the Silver Medal behind Gold Medallists Team USA. Mikhail Dovgalyuk touched the wall helping ROC secure second place at the Tokyo 2020 whilst Australia took Bronze.