On an incredible night in Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Katie Ledecky gave the USA its first swimming gold medal of the Rio 2016 Games with a world record in the women's 400m freestyle
The Ledecky result was totally expected. The 19-year-old has dominated the longer freestyle events since winning gold in the 800m at London 2012 as a 15 year-old. The American kicked off the first wall with a lead of nearly a body length and steadily pulled away as her powerful arms churned through the water.
When Ledecky saw the time — three minutes, 56.46 seconds — she let out an uncharacteristic scream and pumped her right fist. She had crushed the mark of 3:58.37 that she set nearly two years ago on the Gold Coast of Australia, and had been chasing ever since. "It's pure happiness," she said afterwards.
Jazz Carlin from Great Britain won silver with Leah Smith from the USA coming in with the bronze
