Katie Ledecky gave the United States its first swimming gold medal of the Rio Olympics with a world record in the women’s 400-meter freestyle.
The result was expected. Ledecky has dominated the longer freestyle events since winning gold in the 800 freestyle at the London Olympics as a 15-year-old.
She was doing nothing but racing against the clock Sunday night. No problem there.
Ledecky kicked off the first wall with a lead of nearly a body length and steadily pulled away from the overmatched field — as well as the world-record line superimposed on the video screen as her powerful arms churned through the water.