Everyone is talking about Katie Ledecky’s world record performance in Sunday night’s 400m freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, but close behind (in a relative sense) was Virginia’s first-time Olympian Leah Smith, who came away with a bronze medal.
Unsurprisingly, Ledecky dominated the race start to finish with a new world record, coming in at 3:56.46. Great Britain’s Jazmin Carlin finished nearly a full five seconds behind Ledecky at 4:01.23 for silver. Smith gained ground in the final 100, but ultimately was unable to overtake Carlin, coming in at 4:01.92 for the bronze medal.
Smith becomes just the sixth Cavalier to win an Olympic medal.