Live Swimming: Results, Splits, Medals, and Olympic Records

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At the third Summer Games, Katie Ledecky finally managed to swim for Olympic gold in basically her best event: the 1500m freestyle, the longest race contested in pool.

The distance has been available for men since the 1904 Olympics, when it was introduced as a mile. Women who have run the event in other encounters have had to make do with the 800m at the Games, an event that Ledecky will try to win for a third time on Saturday.

On Wednesday morning, she finally got her chance in the women’s 1500 opener and took her first gold at the Tokyo Games. Ledecky’s time of 15:37.34 was more than four seconds faster than fellow American Erica Sullivan (15:41.41), the silver medalist, and over five seconds ahead of bronze medalist Sarah Koller of Germany (15:42.91). .

Ledecky holds the 1500m world record and had the highest time in qualifying on Monday. Her victory in the event – a grueling marathon that requires 30 runs the length of the pool – came just over an hour after Ledecky finished fifth in the 200 freestyle final.

Ledecky has won three 1500m world championships and set world records six times, more than any other swimmer in this event, male or female. But competing just this distance in the Olympics, Ledecky would have been getting a forbidden opportunity from distance swimming greats like Janet Evans, Debbie Meyer, Shane Gould and Jennifer Toural.

Until 1968, the longest Olympic event in women’s swimming was 400 metres. Mayer won the women’s first 800 meters at the Mexico City Olympics that year, as well as the 200 and 400 freestyle races.

Credit… Doug Mills / The New York Times

She held both the 800 and the 1500 world records at the time, and told The Times in 2014 that she wondered why the longest race was not available at the Olympics. Mayer said she was told there weren’t enough countries where women compete in the 1500.

“It was all about thinking at the time, that women are the weaker sex, and because men are strong, they can stay the distance,” she said.

Over the years, other inconsistencies in swimming have been resolved. From 1984 to 1996, for example, the men had three relays and the women two. At the Atlanta Games, the women gained parity, with the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay.

Swimming: Women’s 1500m Freestyle Final

But FINA, the international governing body for aquatics, has long resisted allowing women to compete in the 1,500 at the Summer Games, despite efforts in every sport to make the Olympic experience equal for women and men.

In 2015, FINA president Julio Maglione said he doubted the 1500 could be added to the Olympic programme, which was already filled with races at multiple distances per stroke.

So far, not only have women gained 1,500, but male swimmers have also earned an 800 in their schedule for the first time since 1904. A mixed mixed relay has been added, with two men and two women on each team.

However, the longest swim in Tokyo will not take place in the pool. The 10-kilometre open water event was added to the Olympic Games in 2008, with races for both men and women.

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