2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
- When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
- Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
- Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
- Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
- Full aquatics schedule
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Katie Ledecky ended her 2020 Olympic campaign on a high note Saturday morning in Tokyo, winning gold in her pet event, the women’s 800 freestyle.
Upon the conclusion of an Olympic Games that saw Ledecky have some up and down performances by her lofty standards, the question was immediately brought up: Is this it?
In a post-race interview with NBC, Ledecky quickly dismissed any notion of a retirement, saying she’s got at least three years left in her competitive swimming career, if not more.
“Oh, that was not my last swim. I’m at least going to ‘24, maybe ‘28,” said Ledecky, who will be 27 when the 2024 Games commence in Paris and 31 by the time LA 2028 rolls around. “We’ll see.”
“That was NOT my last swim. I’m at least going to ’24.”
See you in @Paris2024, @KatieLedecky. #TokyoOlympics x @TeamUSA
📺: NBC
💻: https://t.co/Hne9Yk1CKr
📱: NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/s1amc6us7G— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2021
Only 24, a retirement announcement from Ledecky frankly would have been a shock, with her still very much at the top of her game in the middle-distance events.
The former Stanford Cardinal swam her fastest time since 2016 in winning silver behind Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 400 free, and was right on her flat-start best time anchoring the women’s 800 free relay in 1:53.7.
And while her individual times in the 800 and 1500 were well off her best, along with a poor showing in the 200 final, Ledecky is still very much a force in the sport and has a lot more rewriting of the history books to do.
In fact, she did some of that with her win in the 800, becoming just the third female to win the same event at three successive Olympics and the 37th athlete in Olympic history to win 10 medals.
And there’s more to come.
NORTH AMERICA QUICK HITS, DAY 7
- Caeleb Dressel broke the world record en route to winning gold in the men’s 100 butterfly final, clocking 49.45 to lower his previous mark of 49.50 set in 2019.
- Kylie Masse won her second silver medal of these Games in the women’s 200 backstroke, lowering her Canadian Record of 2:05.94 down to 2:05.42, becoming the sixth-fastest swimmer of all-time.
RECORDS, DAY 6
- World – Caeleb Dressel, men’s 100 butterfly (49.45)
- Olympic – Caeleb Dressel, men’s 100 butterfly (49.45)
- American – Caeleb Dressel, men’s 100 butterfly (49.45)
- Canadian – Kylie Masse, women’s 200 backstroke (2:05.42)
NORTH AMERICAN MEDAL TABLE AFTER DAY 6
| TOTAL MEDALS | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| USA | 26 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Canada | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Ledecky is not young anymore,she should skip the fina world championsip 2022 to recharge energy
I disagree with the the story stating Katie had a poor showing in the 200M Freestyle. One can argue that is almost a sprint event and Katie is a distance swimmer -while Titmus is stronger in the 200-400 range. Yet Katie almost beat her. It was a great and courageous showing.
I don’t know what 200 final you watched, but it was very different than the one I watched where KL was nowhere near Titmus and finished 5th.
She had a poor showing in the final for sure, but I wouldn’t say she’s fallen off too much in the 200 overall. She nailed a 1:53.7 split (almost a second faster than Titmus’ flat start) and was 1:54.5 back in April. Seems like she could was in shape to go 53 high or 54 low. I wonder if she didn’t sacrifice the final, or at least overmanage things, saving gas for the 1500. Or sometimes you just have a bad swim.
Her R/T on that 1:53 relay split was actually slower than her typical flat start R/T, so she clearly still has the goods for a gold-medal-contending 200F. She just wasn’t able to summon it in that Final.
Like a lot of people in California, Ledecky needs to pack up the U-Haul and get out of there. Besides all of the Meehan criticism, which is legitimate, with her ultra-challenging Tokyo program, she needed to build a massive training base. When the pandemic started in early 2020, her training base was severely diluted, and then some. California was locked down more than almost any other state, and for a long time. It was nearly impossible for her to put up consistently good times considering the circumstances. In comparison, It’s no mistake that the University of Florida swimmers have performed quite well, as they were much more free to train.
You’ll never hear Ledecky complain vociferously about this, as… Read more »
Well said.
i think she would be a lot better the next 3 years if she want back to Bruce now that she’s done with Stanford and maybe drop the 1500 meter since it’s so much more taxing then the 200, 400, and 800..
The 1500 isn’t taxing for her since its aerobic. 3 rounds of the 200 is harder than prelims of 1500 then a full days rest for the final.
I fully agree with that assessment.
Maybe she was too ambitious this time, trying for 200, 400, 800, 1500.
I know she did it in the past but it looks like at 24 she isn’t the same, very far from he personal best times.
I just wonder if at 24, 25 or older it is possible to get closer to her PB. The competition is getting faster and faster.
I think we don’t realize enough that 8.04 and 15.20 are crazy fast stunning legendary world records. She did it at the peak of her career in 2015/2016. We can’t expect to see her break those records at 25 or 30.
In women’s distance swimming you generally peak between 16 and 20.
What she did at 24 in Tokyo is already a huge accomplishment.
Is it just a coincidence that she’s been way off her best times (for the most part) ever since she left Gemmel?
see the comment just above you
The 1500 WR was in 2018.
Swimmers have never stuck around long enough. Look at runners and triathletes.. they do great through their 30s. Historically there wasn’t enough money for swimmers to stay with it (especially with the more difficult training distance swimming requires).
You realize that Lauren Boyle and Sarah Kohler went best times in the women’s 1500 meter freestyle at the age of 27?
I don’t see her continue until LA without taking at least a one-year break at some point. It’s necessary physically and mentally. MP would have never had such a long and successful career without breaks or without dropping some events like in 2005 to stay mentally fresh and motivated.
But is it possible to take a one-year break when you swim the 1500 free?
It seems easier when you are sprinter.
Ledecky 2 Gold 2 Silver
Titmus 2 Gold 1 Silver 1 Bronze
For all the stars in this sport and others who’ve had trouble handling the grind of pressure, Ledecky seems to be thriving on it —- like, “finally, I have some people to race!” She really seemed to enjoy her Olympics. There wasn’t the emotional “it was hard” (Regan at OTs and Dressel here) or a collapse in performance, she just seemed really at peace with her preparation and the outcomes.
She seemed insanely disappointed to me in the water at the end of the 400, but I haven’t heard much from her interviews.
I agree that KL seems to thrive on the mental and physical grind of preparation, but the pressure of external expectations looked like it was getting to her in Tokyo for the first time. She looked like a wreck before the 1500, and had a rare public break in composure afterwards. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if she did decided to retire. I’m glad someone asked her, and that said she’s not.