The Tokyo Aquatics Center hosted the men’s 1500 m freestyle competition for the 2020 Summer Olympics on July 30 and August 1, 2021.
Since its inception in 1904, the event has been held at every edition, making this its twenty-seventh consecutive participation.
The Tokyo Aquatics Center hosted the women’s 1500-meter freestyle competition during the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021.
Women competed in pool races longer than 800 metres for the first time at these Games.
David Haggerty, an IOC member from the United States, handed out the competition’s medals, and Dale Neuburger, the FINA Treasurer from the same country, gave out the medalists’ bouquets.
US Swimmer Katie Ledecky Easily Wins 1500 Freestyle in Tokyo, Her First Gold of 2020 Summer Olympics
Finally, Katie Ledecky won a gold medal in Tokyo.
The American superstar won the first-ever gold medal in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle on Wednesday after recovering from the weakest performance of her illustrious Olympic career.
Everyone had anticipated a breeze in the metric mile, but it wasn’t quite there.
Ledecky quickly established a sizable lead before putting in significant effort to fend off American teammate Erica Sullivan’s explosive finish.
Ledecky, however, made the first touch in 15 minutes, 37.39 seconds. Sarah Kohler of Germany won the bronze (15:41.41), while Sullivan took home the silver (15:42.91).
Ledecky had a busy morning at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre and seems a little overwhelmed by the highs and lows she had in just over an hour.
In the largely empty arena, she tripped over the lane rope to embrace Sullivan, let out an out-of-character shout.
Toward the American supporters, and appeared to be fighting back tears as she pulled her goggles back down over her eyes to leave the pool.
2020 Tokyo Olympics Live Updates: Katie Ledecky Gets First Gold at Games with 1,500-Meter Freestyle Win
Swimming is a sport where Team USA excels, yet one of the top Americans in the sport did not win gold until Tuesday night.
Swimming legend Katie Ledecky of the United States earned her first gold medal at the 2020 Olympics.
On Tuesday in the first 1,500-meter women’s freestyle final in Summer Games history after losing her first two medal races in Tokyo to Ariarne Titmus of Australia.
Ledecky competed in the 200-meter freestyle just over an hour prior to winning the 1,500-meter freestyle final.
She came in fifth place in that competition, missing the podium, while Titmus took home the gold.
Men’s 4 x 200-Meter Freestyle Relay
With a timing of 7:02:43, the American team of Kieran Smith, Drew Kibler, Zach Apple, and Townley Haas came in fourth place and narrowly missed earning a medal.
Heavy favourites Britain won the gold, its first since 1908, with Australia taking home the bronze and the Russian Olympic Committee taking home the silver.
This was the first time in Olympic history that Team USA finished off the podium in a relay.
Michael Phelps questioned U.S. swimming’s choice to exclude Caeleb Dressel from this race during the event’s NBC broadcast.
Conclusion
With a gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle, a competition that was held for the first time at the Olympics in Tokyo, American Katie Ledecky further solidified her place in swimming history.
In 15:37:34, Ledecky completed her gold-medal swim, with her American colleague Erica Sullivan coming in second around four seconds later. Sarah Kohler, a German, took home bronze.
Previously, only males could compete in the 1,500-meter freestyle event at the Olympics. But this year, the distance race was made available to women as the Games grew more gender-equal.
