American Katie Ledecky dominated the 1500m freestyle, winning the gold medal for the sixth time at the World Aquatics Championships here on Tuesday. Ledecky came up with a blistering first 1000 metres where she was under her world record pace from 2018 as she swam the fifth fastest time in history at 15:26.44.
It wasn’t her fastest of the year as her 15:24 from April leads the world rankings, but she won her career 17th individual gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships, adding to her six from the 800m freestyle, four from the 400m, and one from the 200m.
Ledecky, coached by Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida, won the United States’ second gold medal of these championships in swimming. Italy’s Simona Quadarella swam the best race of her life to bag the silver medal with a time of 15:31.79.
With this, the 27-year-old set a new European record, moving up to number two all-time in the process. Australia’s Lani Pallister gave Ledecky a scare on the first 400m, flipping with the American. But the pace proved to be too hot for Pallister, who faded badly over the last 500 meters to win bronze at 15:41.18.
The time is just off her lifetime best as she was 15:39 in June, but it is her second individual medal at the World Aquatics Championships, matching her bronze in the 1500m from Budapest 2022. Meanwhile, Germany's Anna Elendt delivered a career-best performance on Tuesday night to win the women's 100-metre breaststroke.
Defending champion Tang Qianting of China led for most of the race but was overtaken in the final metres. She settled for bronze in one minute, 5.64 seconds, 0.45 seconds behind Elendt, who touched first in 1:05.19. Kate Douglass of the United States, the reigning Olympic champion in the 200m breaststroke from the Paris 2024 Games, claimed silver in 1:05.27, reports Xinhua.
The result marked Elendt's first world title and a breakthrough moment for the 23-year-old, who previously took silver in this event at the 2022 World Championships. Tang, who had won gold in Doha earlier this year, remains a consistent medal contender with back-to-back podium finishes.