Tokyo, July 26 (AFP/APP): Ultra-fit Katie Ledecky powered through a major physical test Monday, backing up from missing gold in the Olympic 400m freestyle to post the quickest time in the 200m heats and the fastest into the 1500m final.
The American great was upset by arch-rival Ariarne Titmus over 400m, raced in the morning, after the Australian reeled her in to deny the 24-year-old back-to-back titles.
It was a crushing blow, but she had little time to dwell on it during her eye-popping programme in Japan.
Along with the 400m, Ledecky is swimming the 200m, 800m, 1500m, and possibly a relay, a huge task driven home by her schedule on Monday.
She confidently handled the task with a controlled swim in her 200m heat, topping the timesheets in 1min 55.28sec.
“I’ll sleep well tonight, I’ll tell you that, ” said Ledecky. “I was just happy how it went, happy it’s over, and I got the job done.”
Ledecky now has to navigate a 200m semi-final on Tuesday morning before trying to recover for the 1500m final on Wednesday.
“I’m excited that after I get through tomorrow morning I get an evening off, ” said Ledecky. “I think that’s all I need to get myself a little reset going into that next morning.”
Titmus, who clocked the second fastest 200 in history last month, was fourth best into the semi-finals in 1: 55.88, edged by fellow Australian Madison Wilson and Canada’s Penny Oleksiak.
But there was a scare for Italian veteran Federica Pellegrini, who still holds the world record she set in 2009. Now 32, she scraped through in 15th overall.
Titmus admitted it was tough after her morning exploits.
“I had three hours back at the village, which was hard, ” said told reporters.
“Tonight, I knew it was going to be semi-finals in the (Tuesday) morning, so there’s a bit more room to move being top 16 going through.
“I just did what I thought I had to do and I’ll go home and be back in the morning.”