TOKYO -- Katie Ledecky has finally won her first Tokyo Games gold medal.Ledecky won Ledecky's 1,500-meter freestyle, making it her Olympic debut for women. This victory helped Ledecky make up for her poor showing at the Olympics.Ledecky won the metric mile in just 37.34 seconds, less than an hour after she finished fifth in Wednesday's 200-meter freestyle. Sullivan won the silver medal in 15:41.41. Sarah Kohler of Germany took the bronze medal in 15:42.91.Ledecky was not in the top two for the 200-free, which Australia's Ariarne Tippmus won. This was her first Olympic event.Titmus, also known as "The Terminator", gave the Australian women the third individual swimming gold at these games. She set an Olympic record of 1:53.50 seconds against American star. Titmus also beat Ledecky in Monday's 400-free.Titmus was able to conserve her energy during the longer race. She then rallied to beat Ledecky, achieving the second-quickest performance in history.Ledecky was not even close in 200. She made the first flip in seventh and finished in fifth place at the finish. Ledecky finished in 1:55.21, nearly two seconds slower than the winner.Katie Ledecky won 1,500-meter freestyle in just 15 minutes 37.34. This was four seconds faster than teammate Erica Sullivan who finished second. AP Photo/Charlie RiedelLedecky had to endure a long, exhausting morning, which also included the final of 1,500 free. Ledecky was the favorite to win gold in the race. This is a new event for women's programming this year. It gave her an opportunity to quickly recover from the disappointing Olympic performance.Siobhan Haughey from Hong Kong was the leader for much of the race, but she held on to the silver medal in 1:53.92. Canada's Penny Oleksiak took the bronze in 1:54.70.Titmus stated, "Obviously having a great 400 swim gives me confidence going into the 200." "I felt that my back was my strength in 400. That was something I knew I could do on the 200 return trip."Titmus was not all that happy with her time, however it was enough to get another gold.She said, "Honestly, it's just not the time I thought it would be, but it is the Olympics and there are a lot more things going on." It's all about winning here. "I'm very happy.Federica Pellegrini, an Italian swimmer, finished seventh at her fifth and last Olympics. She was the world's record holder for the gold medal in 2008, and she is still holding it today.The men's 200 butterfly was not surprising, with Kristof Milik of Hungary winning a dominant but nerve-wracking victory.Milak won the gold by approximately two body lengths, despite having to change his suit in a hurry before the race. This cost him the chance to break his world record.Milak stated that he noticed that his suit had been damaged about ten minutes before he walked onto deck. Hungarian reporters heard him say that he lost all focus and it was difficult to see from his performance in pool.In fact, he held the suit in the mixed area and put his finger through the tear before throwing it on a table.Milak touched in an Olympic record 1:51.25. This is more than half a second slower than his 2019 world record (1;50.73), but still 2 1/2 seconds faster that the silver medalist.Japan's Tomoru Honda was 1:53.73. Italy's Federico Burdisso took the bronze (1:54.45).South African star Chad le Clos finished fifth. He won the 200 fly at London Olympics 2012, which was a disappointment to Michael Phelps. However, he was not able to match the Hungarian star.Yui Ohashi, a Japanese swimmer, won the 200-meter individual medley for women. This completed a sweep of all the women's medleys at Tokyo Olympics.Ohashi, who previously won the 400-meter individual Medley, was able to finish in 2:08.52 seconds. This beat Alex Walsh (2:08.65), and Kate Douglass (2;09.04).Katinka Hosszu, the defending Olympic champion and world record holder, finished seventh. At 32 years old, she was the oldest swimmer to compete in the final.Caeleb Dressel breezed through semifinals of the 100-free, his first of three events. American star Caeleb Dressel posted 47.23 seconds, just behind Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia (47.11).Dressel stated, "That's about my expectation." It's going be a fast final.He shrugged off the notion that he was a lock for gold.Dressel stated, "I have never been a fan favorite," It's going be a great race. It's something I look forward to. It's going be an exciting event for all to see. There are eight men in the race. It's going to be a great experience for all of you media guys.This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
