Rio 2016 Olympics: Katie Ledecky wins women's 200m freestyle, on track for treble

ByReuters

Updated 10/08/2016 at 02:30 GMT

Katie Ledecky of the United States won the women's Olympic 200 metres freestyle on Tuesday to claim her second individual gold of the Games and stay on track for a rare treble.

Katie Ledecky (USA) of USA reacts after winning the gold medal

Image credit: Reuters

Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden took the silver medal while Emma McKeon of Australia won bronze.

Ledecky, 19, added to her gold in the 400 freestyle on Sunday and silver in the 4x100 freestyle relay the day before. She reigns supreme in her final individual event, the 800 freestyle, which she won at London in 2012.

She now looks overwhelmingly likely to achieve her goal of three individual golds in the 200, 400 and 800 - a feat not achieved at a single Games since American Debbie Meyer accomplished it in Mexico City in 1968.

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"That was a really tough race and it hurt really badly," Ledecky said. "Pretty sure that's the closest I've come to throwing up in the middle of a race. I'm just so glad I got my hand on the wall first."

McKeon, a gold medallist in the 4x100 freestyle relay, led at half-way, with Ledecky second and Sjostrom third.

Katie Ledecky (USA) of USA, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) of Sweden and Emma McKeon (AUS) of Australia pose with their medals

Image credit: Reuters

At the final turn, Ledecky led from Sjostrom, and the two were matched stroke for stroke as they entered the last 25 metres, but the American pulled ahead to touch the wall in one minute, 53.73 seconds.

Sjostrom, who won the 100 butterfly on Sunday, clocked 1:54.08 and McKeon 1:54.92.

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