“I was surprised how normal it did feel” – When Katie Ledecky shared her experience of racing at the Tokyo Olympics during the pandemic
US swimmer Katie Ledecky is no stranger to bagging medal after medal at the Olympics. Last year in Tokyo, she added four more medals, two gold, and two silver, to her overflowing shelf of illustrious achievements.
In August last year, she appeared on PBS Newshour to discuss her victories and what led to them with Judy Woodruff.
The Tokyo Olympics were originally supposed to be held in 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to 2021. Pandemic-related restrictions and strict protocols, however, were still in place at the time, since new cases were still on the rise. As a corollary to this, due to the health risks involved, spectators were not allowed to attend any sports events.
As a live audience and cheering play a big role in boosting an athlete's morale, the empty stands were a completely different experience for all the competitors.
On a similar note, Jane Woodruff asked Katie Ledecky if the lack of spectators affected her performance in any way.
Ledecky said that she was actually surprised at how normal it felt. Even though there was no live audience, her teammates cheered a lot for each other.
"Well, I think I was actually sort of surprised at how normal it did feel. I had my teammates in the stands cheering when they didn't have races or when they were done competing. So they brought a lot of energy to our team,"
She also said that looking at familiar faces supporting her felt nice.
"I think Team USA was the loudest at the pool. So, that was really nice to just be able to look in the stands and still see some familiar faces that are supporting you,"
Woodruff said she asked this because athletes are used to cheering "from one end of the pool to the other." Ledecky responded that although not having her family there was hard, she tried her best to video call them between races.
"Yes, I mean, it was also tough not having family there. And I made sure to video call my family in between races as best I could. I just had those short moments, and there was the time difference, but we snuck it in,"
What's the secret sauce behind Katie Ledecky's brilliant swimming?
US swimmer Katie Ledecky is a superstar with consistent performances and phenomenal times. She won her first Olympic gold medal in the 800m freestyle at the 2012 London Games when she was just 15-years-old!
So, is it really wrong for anyone to ask her what's the secret sauce?
Jane Woodruff mentioned reading a similar question somewhere and added how Ledecky has always said it's practice. She wondered how inspirational her hard work can be.
Katie Ledecky chuckled saying that it's just a lot of hard work from everyone involved in her training and life, not just her.
"Yes, I mean, everyone's always trying to find out what the secret is. But there really isn't a secret. It's just a lot of hard work over many, many years, and not just from myself, but from my coaches, my teammates, my family, everyone that's helped me get to this point,"
She further added that it's not just about the time that she swims her race in, but the thousands of hours of work she has put in for that.
"It's not just the 15 minutes that I'm in that -- in that race in the 1, 500. It's hours and hours every week for five years from Rio to now, but also the many years, before that,"
Katie Ledecky is surely an inspiration to many athletes all around the world. She now has her eyes set on the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.