Katie Ledecky becomes first woman since '68 to win 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyle
Katie Ledecky went to sleep late the night before her 800-meter freestyle final, waiting on roommate and fellow gold medal-winner Simone Manuel to get back to their room so Ledecky could congratulate her on a 100-meter freestyle win.
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But the late night hardly seemed to bother the swimming star in her final gold medal race of the 2016 Olympics. She again made it clear that she is unquestionably the best 800-meter freestyler in the world.
Ledecky's third individual freestyle gold made her the first woman to win the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyle races since American Debbie Meyer accomplished the feat in 1968 at the Games in Mexico City.
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Ledecky's gold medal-winning time of 8:04.79 set a new world record -- besting, of course, a world record she already owned -- and placed her more than 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Jazz Carlin of Britain.
The 800-meter Olympic gold is Ledecky's second in the event. She also notched first place in the 800-meter freestyle at the Games in London when she was just 15.
She dropped nearly 10 full seconds during those four years, though her time from 2012 would have been good for gold in Rio, too.
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Topics Olympics
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
