Katie Ledecky wins thrilling 800m world gold to deny Summer McIntosh shot at five individual titles

Independent

4 days ago

American Katie Ledecky continued her domination of the women's 800m freestyle with a brilliant swim to win gold at the world championships in Singapore on Saturday and deny Summer McIntosh the chance to win five individual titles.
It was Ledecky's seventh gold medal in the event at the world championships and 23rd world title overall, the 28-year-old edging out Australian Lani Pallister and McIntosh with a time of eight minutes and 05:62 seconds, a championship record time.
Pallister pushed hard all the way and took a remarkable silver in 8:05.98, while Canadian McIntosh was third in 8:07.29 in an instant classic of a race.
'That's pretty incredible, three of us going under 8:10 ... incredibly fast. They pushed me all the way,' Ledecky said.
'I don't think I have anything to lose at this point of my career,' the 28-year-old added. 'Just enjoying the crowd, swimming against the best in the world. Everyone in that heat is the next generation of swimmers coming up; just proud to be a part of it.'
Ledecky also won gold in the 1,500m and bronze in the 400m, and is closing in on compatriot Michael Phelps ' record of 26 world championships titles.
The defeat ended McIntosh's bid to match Phelps's record of five individual titles at a single world championship, though beating Ledecky in the 800m always looked like it would be the biggest obstacle on the 18-year-old's programme.
Ledecky broke her own 800m world record in May, swimming 8:04.12 to improve a mark she set nearly a decade ago at the Rio Games, but McIntosh had also been making waves in the event in the build-up to the world championships.
She posted the third-fastest time ever in June and ended Ledecky's 13-year unbeaten streak in 2024 when she bested the American at a sectionals meeting in Florida.
McIntosh said she would try to get the race out of her mind as quickly as possible with another shot at a gold medal coming up in the 400 individual medley on Sunday.
'I know I'm the favourite going in so it's a bit of a different set-up. I'm excited to finish off this meet with a really strong swim and I have full confidence for the IM,' she added.
'I went into the 800 free with full confidence as well so I think this is a really big learning lesson for me.'
Saturday's race was billed as a showdown between Ledecky and McIntosh but Pallister threw a spanner in the works by taking an incredible five seconds off her personal best.
'I feel like that's been the biggest hyped-up race and the 800 is my best event, obviously with an 8:05,' Pallister, who took bronze in the 1,500m and finished fourth in the 400m, told Australian broadcaster Nine Network.
'Coming off the 1,500, being comfortable swimming next to Katie, being close in the 400, I knew I had a sub 8:10 in me. I didn't think I'd be 8:05 here, but now I'm really thrilled with that.'
Saturday's meet also saw the United States set a world record in the mixed 4x100 metres freestyle relay.
The US team of Jack Alexy, Patrick Sammon, Kate Douglass and Torri Huske clocked 3:18.48, breaking Australia's previous mark of 3:18.83 set at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka.
World record holder Kaylee McKeown underlined her status as the undisputed queen of backstroke swimming as she added the 200m gold to her triumph in the 100m, clocking a time of 2:03.33, the third fastest swim of all time.
It was nearly a second better than American challenger Regan Smith (2:04.29), who had taken silver behind McKeown in the 100m and 200m at the Paris Olympics and was runner-up to her again in the 100m in Singapore.
Just like in Paris, McKeown's win came straight after compatriot Cameron McEvoy stormed to his second 50 freestyle title in 21.14 seconds, becoming the oldest Australian swimming world champion at the age of 31.
Fastest off the blocks, McEvoy once again denied Ben Proud (21.26) gold, having beaten the Briton to the Olympic title by a fingertip in Paris exactly a year ago.