- Katie Ledecky won the 800m freestyle at World Championships for the fifth consecutive time.
- The American superstar finished in 8:08.04 — nearly 11 seconds faster than the next-best swimmer.
- As has become common, Ledecky was seen waiting in the seemingly empty pool as the field caught up.
Katie Ledecky just keeps winning. And when it comes to her best event in the pool, she keeps winning big.
The 25-year-old American swimming sensation dominated the 800-meter freestyle final in Budapest Friday to win her fifth-consecutive World Championship title in the event. Her 8:08.04 finish is the fifth-fastest time ever recorded in the race — Ledecky herself accounts for each of the four faster times — and was considerably faster than her opponents in Hungary.
Ledecky had more than 10 seconds on the second-place finisher, Australia's Kiah Melverton.
After touching the wall, Ledecky calmly looked for her time — which was more than four seconds faster than what she clocked in her gold-medal swim at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. Then, she removed her goggles and looked down pool as the rest of the swimmers in the race completed their final laps.
As has become common for Ledecky, particularly in her longer races, cameras captured a staggering shot of the the 10-time Olympic medalist hanging onto the wall of the seemingly empty pool. The angle routinely showcases just how far ahead of the competition she is — both literally and figuratively:
The victory gave Ledecky the 22th World Championship medal — and 19th gold — of her illustrious swimming career. No woman in the history of the sport has earned more hardware, as she broke American Natalie Coughlin's medal record earlier in the week.
Check out the video of Ledecky's latest impressive victory below:
