by Katie Ledecky Wins 17th World Championship Gold in Women’s 1500 Freestyle
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Katie Ledecky returned to her throne as the world champion in the 1,500-meter women’s freestyle.
The 25-year-old captured gold Monday at the 2022 World Championships. With a final time of 15:30.15, she finished nearly 15 seconds ahead of silver medalist Katie Grimes.
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DOMINANCE.
Katie Ledecky wins her 17th World Championship gold in the women’s 1500 freestyle at #FINABudapest2022. pic.twitter.com/UZxJZNOXkH
Ledecky cruised in qualifying for the final. She completed her heat in 15:47.02, the fastest overall time by 9.17 seconds.
The rest of the field didn’t stand much of a chance when she held nothing back in the final. Grimes didn’t even enter the frame on the live broadcast until around five seconds after Ledecky touched the wall.
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KATIE SQUARED!@katieledecky wins her 17th World Championships gold in the women’s 1500m freestyle as 16-year-old Katie Grimes wins silver.@USASwimming x #FINABudapest2022
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Ledecky’s dominance in the 1,500-meter free is unparalleled. Not only does she hold the world record (15:20.48) in the event, but OlympicTalk also noted she has the 13 fastest times recorded.
With Monday’s triumph, Ledecky is now 2-for-2 in Budapest, Hungary. She also won gold in the 400-meter freestyle Saturday. She was unable to avenge her runner-up finish to Australia’s Ariarne Titmus in the 2021 Summer Olympics, though, with Titmus declining to make the trip to Budapest.
Ledecky is swimming in one more event: the 800-meter freestyle. She’s the reigning world champion and will get her gold medal defense underway during Thursday’s qualifying heats. The final is scheduled for Friday.