Katie Ledecky did what she does best.
The seven-time Olympic gold medalist won the 1,500-meter freestyle heats on Tuesday morning in a time of 15 minutes, 47.43 seconds, beating China’s Li Bingjie by 17.83 seconds.
Ledecky already holds the world and Olympic records in the event and has never lost a 1,500-meter relay. According to USA Today.
If Tuesday’s heat is any indication, Ledecky looks poised to win her second consecutive Olympic title.
As shown on US broadcast, Ledecky dominated her competitors, none of whom were visible as she completed her lap.
The finals are scheduled for Wednesday from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET.
Ledecky came into this qualifying round coming off a rare defeat, having won a bronze medal in the women’s 400-meter freestyle on Saturday.
The Stanford University graduate won the event at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and finished second at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but fell further behind this year.
Ariarne Titmus of Australia won in a time of 3:57.49, while Ledecky finished in 4:00.86, while Summer McIntosh of Canada narrowly edged out Ledecky for the silver medal in a time of 3:58.37.
The bronze medal was Ledecky’s 11th Olympic medal, but she is yet to win a gold medal at this year’s Olympics.
2024 Paris Olympics
Ledecky will also compete in the women’s 800m freestyle, with the qualifying rounds scheduled to take place at the Paris La Défense Arena on August 2. She will also take part in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
She is the overwhelming favorite to win the 800m as a back-to-back Olympic champion, while the 4x200m team won gold in 2016 and finished with silver in 2021.
Ledecky would need to win all three remaining events to become the most gold medal-winning woman in history.
The Team USA star has also been in the news for speaking out after it was revealed that Team China swimmers may have used banned substances during the 2021 Olympics.
Stream the 2024 Olympics
If you want to watch every minute of the 2024 Olympics, Peacock is the way to go. For $7.99 a month, you’ll get live streaming of all the action from Paris, plus highlights and other perks. Gold Zonemore.
Want to stream the Paris Olympics for free? Try our free trials of DIRECTV Stream (5 days) and Hulu + Live TV (3 days), both of which include the networks you need to watch the Olympics.
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“I hope that everyone in Paris will play a clean game this week.” Ledecky said on July 24, according to The New York Times. “But what really matters is whether they had clean training. Hopefully they did, with all the testing going on around the world.”
“I think we’ve all heard what the players are thinking. They want transparency. They want more answers to the questions that still remain.”
