Ledecky goes out on top in 800 free
TOKYO — Caeleb Dressel added a world record to his growing medal haul.
Katie Ledecky closed out her Olympics with another victory, too.
Continuing his march to being perhaps the biggest star of the Tokyo Games, Dressel won his third gold medal with a world record in the 100-meter butterfly Saturday.
About 20 minutes later, Ledecky claimed her expected gold in the 800 freestyle, though she was pushed hard by Australian rival Ariarne Titmus.
Ledecky finished with two golds, two silvers and a fifth-place finish at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre — not as successful as she was five years ago in Rio de Janeiro, but not bad at all.
Dressel led from the start and held off Hungary’s Kristof Milak to touch in 49.45 seconds, breaking the mark of 49.50 that the American set at the 2019 world championships in Gwangju.
Milak, winner of the 200 fly, earned the silver with a blistering 49.68. The bronze went to Switzerland’s Noe Ponti.
When he saw the “WR” beside his name, Dressel smiled and joined hands with Milak in the lane next to him. They raised their arms together before Dressel flexed his left arm and pumped it in the air.
From the nearly empty stands, the cheers from Dressel’s teammates rang through the arena. When he was announced as the Olympic champion, he raised his right arm again as he walked along the deck.
He didn’t want to exert too much energy; he had two more races on his morning schedule.
Ledecky became the first female swimmer to capture six individual gold medals with her third straight Olympic title in the 800 free.
Ledecky led all the way in a race she hasn’t lost since 2010, winning with a time of 8 minutes, 12.57 seconds .
Titmus closed strong to claim the silver in 8:13.83, while the bronze went to Italy’s Simona Quadarella in 8:18.35.
Ledecky lost her first two individual matchups with Titmus, but finally beat the Terminator in their final showdown.
“To be able to watch Katie actually race somebody this Olympics was really exciting,” American teammate Katie Grimes said. “We don’t get to see that very often.”
The Australian women did claim another gold. Kaylee McKeown completed a sweep of the backstroke events with a victory in the 200 butterfly.