How fast is Katie Ledecky? Legendary USA swimmer breaks 1500 meter world record by nearly 10 seconds at FINA Swimming World Cup 2022
Katie Ledecky broke the world record on her path to victory in the 1500m freestyle event during the FINA Swimming World Cup held at Toronto Pan Am Sports Center.
Creating world records isn't new to Katie Ledecky. She has already created world records in the 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, and 1500m freestyle events in her career.
However, this one will be extremely special for Ledecky as she created this record in the 1500-meter freestyle (short course) event. She already holds the world record in the 1500-meter freestyle (long course) event.
Katie Ledecky finished the race with a world record time of 15:08:24. This is ten seconds faster than the previous world record created by Sarah Kohler of Germany, whose world record in the 1500-meter freestyle (short course) was 15:18:01.
WORLD RECORD
15:08.24
Katie Ledecky
Smashing the 1500m previous time by nearly 10 seconds. Staggering. This place is going crazy. What a scene. https://t.co/8gIXMm5Ser
Beatriz Dizotti of Brazil and Laila Oravsky of Canada finished in second and third place with a time of 15:48.82 and 16:16.86 respectively. As Katie completed the race, none of her opponents could be seen getting closer to the finish line. This showed how fast Ledecky had completed the race.
She also broke the American record of the 1500-meter freestyle created by Kate Ziegler in 2007. Katie Ledecky has already broken the world record in 800-meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle (long course) events.
The world record in the 1500-meter freestyle (short course) is sure to be at the top of the list of world records created by Katie.
Katie Ledecky and her gold medal record in the Olympics and World Championships
Ledecky has won 26 gold medals across the Olympics and World Championships (long course). She has seven Olympic gold medals and 19 World Championship gold medals.
Her medal spree began at the 2012 London Olympics. She bagged her very first gold medal by winning the 80-meter freestyle event. By winning this event, she broke the American record held by Janet Evans.
During the 2016 Rio Olympics, Katie went on to win four gold medals in the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, and 4x200-meter freestyle relay events.
Apart from winning gold medals in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle events, she also completed those events with a world record time of 3:56.46 and 8:04.79 respectively. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Katie was only able to win two gold medals. She won the gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle events.
Ledecky has won a whopping 19 gold medals across five World Championships. Katie completed a clean sweep of gold medals at the 2013 World Championships by winning all four events she competed in. She won gold medals in the 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, 1500-meter freestyle, and 4x200-meter freestyle events.
During the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Ledecky clinched five gold medals by winning the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, 1500-meter freestyle, and 4x200-meter freestyle events.
She once again won five gold medals at the 2017 World Championships. This time she was victorious in the 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, 1500-meter freestyle, 4x100-meter freestyle, and 4x200-meter freestyle events.
Katie Ledecky was only able to win one gold medal and two silver medals during the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju due to her ill health. Her lone gold medal came in the 800-meter freestyle event.
During this year's World Championships in Budapest, Katie was victorious in the 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, 1500-meter freestyle, and 4x200-meter freestyle events.
Apart from the Olympics and World Championships, Katie Ledecky has won eight gold medals in the Pan Pacific Championships.