Katie Ledecky of the US eased to her 20th gold medal overall at the World Aquatics Championships, powering to a fifth women’s 1500m freestyle title after Matthew Richards led a British one-two in the men’s 200m freestyle on Tuesday.
Seven-time Olympic champion Ledecky touched the pad in 15 minutes, 26.27 seconds to finish 17.04 seconds faster than Italy’s Simona Quadarella who settled for silver while China’s Li Bingjie took bronze.
It was the perfect response for Ledecky, who was dethroned by the record-breaking Ariarne Titmus in Sunday’s 400m freestyle event.
Earlier, Richards finished strongly to bag the gold ahead of compatriot Tom Dean in his freestyle event with a solid time of one minute, 44.30 seconds.
Nehra feat
Teenager Aryan Nehra equalled the ‘best Indian time’ to finish 27th in the 800m freestyle on Tuesday. The 19-year-old clocked a personal best 8:00.76 in the heats to match Advait Page’s ‘best Indian time’.
He, however, failed to advance to the final.
Reuters, PTI
