Katie Ledecky completely dominates 1500-meter freestyle at Paris Olympics in pursuit of history

Katie Ledecky did what she does best.

The seven-time Olympic gold medalist put on a show Tuesday morning by dominating the 1500-meter freestyle swimming heat with her time of 15:47.43, finishing 17.83 seconds ahead of China’s Li Bingjie.

Ledecky already has the world and Olympic record in the event and has never lost in the 1500-meter freestyle, according to USA Today .

If Tuesday’s heat is any indication, Ledecky seems poised to win the event for the second straight Olympics.

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Ledecky overwhelmed the competition so much that no other competitor could be seen while she completed her laps, as shown on the USA broadcast.

The final is set for Wednesday in the 2:30-4:30 p.m. ET window.

Ledecky entered this heat off a rare defeat, claiming the bronze in the women’s 400-meter freestyle Saturday.

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The Stanford product won the event during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and finished second in the 2021 games in Tokyo, but slipped further this year.

Australia’s Ariarne Titmus won the event with a time of 3:57.49, while Ledecky registered 4:00.86. Canada’s Summer McIntosh just edged Ledecky for the silver with a time of 3:58.37.

That bronze marked Ledecky’s 11th Olympic medal , but she has yet to claim a gold in this year’s Games.

Ledecky is also competing in the women’s 800-meter freestyle, with her heat scheduled for Aug. 2 at Paris La Defense Arena, along with the 4×200-meter free relay.

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She is the heavy favorite in the 800-meter race as the back-to-back Olympics champion, while the 4×200-meter team took gold in 2016 and settled for silver in 2021.

Ledecky needs to finish first in all three of her remaining competitions to set the record for most gold medals ever won by a woman .

The Team USA standout has also been in the news for speaking out after the revelation that Team China swimmers may have used a banned substance during the 2021 games.

“I hope everyone here (in Paris) is going to be competing clean this week,” Ledecky said on July 24, per The New York Times. “But what really matters also is: Were they training clean? Hopefully, that’s been the case. Hopefully, there’s been even testing around the world.

“I think everyone’s heard what the athletes think. They want transparency. They want further answers to the questions that still remain.”

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