Ledecky wins most challenging event with gritty performance

Katie Ledecky of the United States of America won the gold medal in the final of the Women’s 200m freestyle to claim her second individual gold of the 2016 Olympics and set up a rare treble.

Katie Ledecky with her gold medal from the women’s 400-meter freestyle.

She didn’t dominate this race (like she did on Sunday, when she broke a 400-m freestyle world record and beat her closest opponent by almost five seconds).

Ledecky took the most challenging step toward a feat that has only been done one other time, holding off Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom to win the 200m freestyle on Tuesday to give the United States star her second gold of the Olympics.

Phelps, who celebrated the 19th Olympic gold of his career in Sunday’s 4x100m relay, faces more of a battle as he chases what would be his first individual medal of these Games. She is also to participate in the 800-meter freestyle relay later this week.

Despite her phenomenal performance in the 400-meter freestyle, Ledecky remained candid and humble over her achievement. On Tuesday, she won the 200 and 400 freestyle events.

Jazz Carlin took the silver medal on a great night for British swimmers, minutes after Adam Peaty had won gold in the 100 meters breaststroke.

Franklin struggled mightily at the USA trials, qualifying for the team in only two individual events and one relay – a far cry from her seven-event program at the London Games. What do you expect from the woman who won a gold medal when she was just 16?

The Swede had Ledecky in her sights throughout the final 50 metres but simply could not do anything about it.

So after Phelps won his second gold medal of these Games and vanquished le Clos, who finished fourth, he seemed to defy anyone to come and beat him.

When he saw leadoff man Caeleb Dressel coming to the wall in second place, Phelps told reporters, “I honestly thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest”. “After my race I needed to slap something and there was just the water right there”.

“You don’t always understand everything and understanding isn’t always going to bring you peace so it’s just knowing that God’s with me no matter what and I’ve got to keep fighting and keep believing in his plan”.

Next up for Ledecky is the 200m free, which starts with heats and semi-finals on Monday, with the 800m free on Friday.