American star Katie Ledecky won her seventh world title in the women’s 800-meter freestyle on Saturday, fending off the challenges of Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh and Australia’s Lani Pallister.
This World Aquatics Championships was billed as a showdown between Ledecky, the established star of the sport, and McIntosh, her 18-year-old challenger who was attempting to equal Michael Phelps’ record of winning five gold medals at a single world championship.
When they competed against each other earlier this week in the 400m freestyle, it was McIntosh who emerged victorious but, this time, Ledecky once again demonstrated her dominance over longer distances.
They pulled away from the field alongside Pallister and the three of them produced an extraordinary final, separated by no more than a couple of strokes for the entire race.
Ledecky eventually touched the wall first with a championship-record time of 8:05.62 while Pallister finished second, just 0.36 seconds slower, and McIntosh rounded out the podium in third, another 1.31 seconds back.
“We got three under 8:10 there. That’s pretty incredible,” Ledecky said afterward. “Lani with the 8:05, Summer with the 8:07. That’s incredibly fast and they pushed me all the way. I’m just really happy I could put that together. I just kept telling myself to trust my legs, because I’ve gotten a little better at kicking. So, I brought it home in the end.”
They set off fast – all three swimmers were inside world-record pace at the halfway point – but Ledecky eventually finished just over a second outside the record she set in May.
Aside from a short period with about 100m to go when McIntosh edged in front, Ledecky led for almost the entire race, and had enough energy left to hold off any late sprints from her rivals.
“I just came in tonight trying to enjoy this as much as I can,” she added. “I don’t feel like I have anything to lose at this point in my career. I just enjoy it every time I get to walk out in front of a crowd like this and swim against the best in the world.”
This victory marks Ledecky’s second gold medal at this championship and the 23rd world title of her glittering career after she won the 1,500m earlier this week.
McIntosh, meanwhile, has already won three gold medals at this championship – in the 200m butterfly, 400m freestyle and 200m medley – and has a chance to win a fourth in the 400m individual medley on Sunday.
Later on Saturday, Team USA set a new world record in the mixed 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Jack Alexy, Patrick Sammon, Kate Douglass and Torri Huske finished in 3:18.48, 0.35 seconds quicker than the previous record set by Australia in 2023.