Katie Ledecky breaks her 2nd world record in less than 24 hrs, Phelps suffers defeat in the 200m medley
Goldcoast(Australia): American teenager Katie Ledecky broke her second world record in less than 24 hours while Michael Phelps suffered a rare defeat at the Pan Pacific championships in Australia today.
Ledecky hacked almost six seconds off her 1,500 metres freestyle world mark, which she set in Texas in June, when she charged through the 30-lap event in 15 minutes, 28.36 seconds.
The 17-year-old finished almost half a minute ahead of her nearest rival – an almost unimaginable margin in a sport where medals are often decided by hundredths of seconds – to collect her fifth title of the championships.
Ledecky broke her 400m world record yesterday and came within a whisker of eclipsing her 800m world best on Thursday.
She also won the 200m individual event and anchored the United States to victory in the 4x200m to emerge as the biggest winner of the four-day meet at Australia’s Gold Coast. “That was probably one of my most painful races,” Ledecky told reporters.
“But it paid off in the end. Pretty early on it felt like I was on world record pace.
“I was pretty sure I had it. Still, six seconds is pretty surprising.”
Ledecky’s performances have caught the eye of Phelps, who said: “She’s a stud. Watching her swim, it’s remarkable.”
Phelps picked up his third gold medal of the meet when he helped the US win the men’s 4x100m medley relay after he was surprisingly beaten in the 200m individual medley, an event he had won at the last three Olympics before his short-lived retirement after London 2012.
Still struggling to find his best, Phelps was touched out by Japan’s Kosuke Hagino, who got his hand on the wall first in 1:56.02 to claim his second gold after also winning the 400 IM.
“There’s no better way to end a great week of racing then being with these guys and finishing with a win.” Phelps said. (Reuters)