Ledecky makes Olympic history, McIntosh becomes pool star again – Sports

American Katie Ledecky made history on Saturday by capturing her ninth career Olympic gold medal, while Canada’s Summer McIntosh underlined her status as a rising star in the sport with her third gold medal of the Paris Games.

Ledecky won her fourth consecutive Olympic 800-meter freestyle title, tying the record for most gold medals by a woman in any sport.

The 17-year-old McIntosh had a strong late-race performance to win the 200m individual medley, following strong results in the 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly.

Ledecky has dominated the 800m since she won the event at the 2012 London Olympics as a 15-year-old, and although she was dominated by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus along the way, her title never really seemed under threat.

The 27-year-old crossed the finish line in 8 minutes 11.04 seconds, ahead of Titmus (8 minutes 12.29 seconds) and American Paige Madden (8 minutes 13.00 seconds).

“I know Ariana is going to give me everything she has,” Ledecky said.

“I’m confident going into the game, but it’s going to be tough until the end no matter what.

“I just had to keep playing, trusting myself, trusting my training, trusting that I knew how to play this game, and I’m just relieved that I finally took my chance.”

The ninth gold medal puts her in a tie with Soviet rhythmic gymnast Larisa Latynina as the only women in history to win so many.

She is the greatest distance swimmer in the history of the sport, having won the 1500m freestyle title, silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m freestyle at the Paris Olympics.

No other female swimmer has won gold medals in four Olympics, a record Ledecky said gives her special satisfaction.

“I think four first prizes means a lot to me. I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself but I’m really happy that I pulled it off,” she added.

‘illusory’

Titmus beat Ledecky in the 400m freestyle and was full of admiration for the American’s achievement.

“She’s been winning this race since I was 11, and I’m going to be 24 next month. It’s just amazing. She’s incredible,” she said.

McIntosh was ahead of Australia’s Kaylee McKeown after the backstroke, and then American Alex Walsh took the lead at the final turn after the breaststroke.

But McIntosh produced another brilliant performance on the final lap to take a stunning victory.

American Kate Douglas took silver and McKeown took bronze because Walsh, who finished third, was disqualified.

McIntosh once again took a leisurely stroll in the pool, waving to fans with a gold medal around her neck.

“It’s surreal. I’m proud of myself for being able to recover and deal with these events because it was so hard for me,” the teenager said.

Hungary’s Kristof Milak won the men’s 100m butterfly, giving his country its second swimming gold medal of the Games.

Canada’s Josh Liendo won silver and his compatriot Ilya Kharun took bronze.

This was the second time this week that Hungarian athlete Hubert Kos celebrated victory at La Défense Stadium after winning the gold medal in the men’s 200m backstroke.

Milak won silver in the same event at the Tokyo Olympics, and this week he also won silver in the 200m butterfly behind Leon Marchand.

He has now won two gold medals in the flying events, following his 200m triumph three years ago.

In the mixed 4x100m medley relay, the United States won the gold medal with a world record-breaking performance, surpassing China and Australia.

Their teammates Ryan Murphy, Nick Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Tori Haskell narrowly beat the British team with a time of 3 minutes 37.43 seconds, breaking the record set by the British team at the Tokyo Olympics.

In the women’s 50m freestyle semi-final, Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjostrom set a new Olympic record with a time of 23.66 seconds, which is also the third fastest time in history.