6 pictures that show Katie Ledecky's 800-meter freestyle dominance
Katie Ledecky broke her own world record Friday night in the women’s 800-meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympics. But the words “world record” don’t convey how absolutely dominant Ledecky was.
Less than halfway through the race, Ledecky was so far ahead, she was already swimming in the opposite direction of the other seven swimmers:
A few turns later, by the time the second- and third-place swimmers were touching the wall, Ledecky was nearly off the screen:
Here’s the angle the NBC broadcast usually goes to for races that are coming down to the wire. You can usually see up to five or six in the same shot and accurately judge the distance between them. For the 800 free, it was useless:
Here’s the other angle NBC likes to go to:
With 100 meters to go, Ledecky almost had a TV screen to herself:
And finally, the finish. Even in the wide camera shot, there’s nobody in sight:
This wasn’t unexpected either. Ledecky had all of the top-10 times in the women’s 800 free coming into the race.
Feeling *pretty* good about Katie Ledecky's chances tonight in the 800 free. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/SoMD2oHRf3
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) August 13, 2016
Nonetheless, Ledecky’s performance was stunning to watch.
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