Katie Ledecky finishes worlds with five golds, one silver

By Nick ZaccardiJul 29, 2017, 4:00 PM EDT

Katie Ledecky capped the most successful (by medals) major meet of her career with her fifth gold and sixth medal overall in the world championships 800m freestyle on Saturday.

She won in 8:12.68, nearly eight seconds slower than her world record in Rio. China’s Li Bingjie took silver, 2.78 seconds behind, followed by American Leah Smith. Li, who was born in 2002, lowered her personal best by more than five seconds.

Ledecky surpassed her medal totals from the 2015 Worlds — five golds, five overall — and 2016 Olympics — four golds, five overall. Only Missy Franklin and Michael Phelps have won more golds at a single worlds.

However, she was not as dominant as the last two years. Before Saturday, Ledecky was usually between one and two seconds slower per event in Budapest than at her otherworldly Rio Games.

“If that was my bad year for the next four years, then next couple of years are going to be pretty exciting,” Ledecky told media in Budapest.

She set no world records at a major meet for the first time since the 2012 Olympics, when she won her only event, the 800m free, at age 15. Ledecky lowered at least two records at the 2013 Worlds, 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, 2015 Worlds and 2016 Olympics.

Remember, Ledecky faced new challenges in the post-Olympic year, moving from the Washington, D.C., area for the first time, enrolling at Stanford and completing a full NCAA season under a new coach. To expect her to be faster in 2017 than in 2016 would arguably be unrealistic.

“Hasn’t been the best meet for me, but I’m still happy with my swims,” Ledecky said on NBC on Saturday, adding later, “I always wish there was more. … Knowing that I didn’t really set as high of goals this year and have that same motivation I had last year, always being on and on and on. Going through a lot of transitions and changes this year. Knowing that I’ve gone through that year now, I can really take what I learned this year and apply it moving forward.”

Ledecky remains unquestionably the world’s greatest female distance swimmer. The questions going into next year center on her newer events.

Can she return to the top of the world in the 200m freestyle?

The woman who relegated Ledecky to silver in Budapest, veteran Italian Federica Pellegrini, said she’s finished with that event on the major international level.

The woman who was Ledecky’s biggest rival in the 200m free in 2015 and 2016 — Swede Sarah Sjöström — did not swim the 200m free in Budapest and may not contest it again at a major international meet.

The new 200m free challenger is Australian Emma McKeon, the 23-year-old who tied Ledecky for silver in Budapest. Ledecky and McKeon could go head to head at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, a meet for the world’s best swimmers outside of Europe.

However, Australia will be focusing on hosting the Commonwealth Games in April ahead of Pan Pacs in Tokyo in August.

Then there’s Ledecky’s place on the U.S. 4x100m free relay. Ledecky was sixth in the 100m free at nationals but certainly deserved a place on the relay in Budapest given her strong Rio relay effort.

But she went 1.04 seconds slower on her relay leg than in Rio (albeit after swimming the 400m free final earlier in the session). Ledecky was the slowest of the six U.S. swimmers (prelims and finals, factoring in flat starts).

The U.S. is so strong in the 100m free that it doesn’t need to lean on Ledecky in the relay, and she may not be an automatic for the final quartet moving forward in an event that is nowhere near her specialty. Simone Manuel and Mallory Comerford traded American records in the event this week and are in a class of their own.

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Women’s 800m Freestyle Results
Gold: Katie Ledecky (USA) — 8:12.68
Silver: Li Bingjie (CHN) — 8:15.46
Bronze: Leah Smith (USA) — 8:17.22
4. Mireia Belmonte (ESP) — 8:23.30
5. Boglarka Kapas (HUN) — 8:24.41
6. Zhang Yuhan (CHN) — 8:26.06
7. Simona Quadarella (ITA) — 8:26.50
8. Holly Hibbott (GBR) — 8:38.63

Ryan Crouser breaks world record in shot put at Los Angeles Grand Prix

By OlympicTalkMay 27, 2023, 5:56 PM EDT

Two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser registered one of the greatest performances in track and field history, breaking his world record and throwing three of the six farthest shot puts of all time at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on Saturday.

Crouser unleashed throws of 23.56 meters, 23.31 and 23.23 at UCLA’s Drake Stadium. His previous world record from the Tokyo Olympic Trials was 23.37. He now owns the top four throws in history, and the 23.23 is tied for the fifth-best throw in history.

“The best thing is I’m still on high volume [training], heavy throws in the ring and heavy weights in the weight room, so we’re just starting to work in some speed,” the 6-foot-7 Crouser, who is perfecting a new technique coined the “Crouser slide,” told Lewis Johnson on NBC.

Sha’Carri Richardson won her 100m heat in 10.90 seconds into a slight headwind, then did not start the final about 90 minutes later due to cramping, Johnson said. Richardson is ranked No. 1 in the world in the 100m in 2023 (10.76) and No. 2 in the 200m (22.07).

Jamaican Ackeem Blake won the men’s 100m in a personal best 9.89 seconds. He now ranks third in the world this year behind Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala and American Fred Kerley, who meet in the Diamond League in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday (2-4 p.m. ET, CNBC, NBCSports.com/live, the NBC Sports app and Peacock).

The next major meet is the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in early July, when the top three in most individual events qualify for August’s world championships.

Richardson will bid to make her first global championships team, two years after having her Olympic Trials win stripped for testing positive for marijuana and one year after being eliminated in the first round of the 100m at USATF Outdoors.

LA GRAND PRIX: Full Results

Also Saturday, Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico won the 100m hurdles in 12.31, the fastest time ever this early in a year. Nigerian Tobi Amusan, who at last July’s worlds lowered the world record to 12.12, was eighth in the eight-woman field in 12.69.

Maggie Ewen upset world champion Chase Ealey in the shot put by throwing 20.45 meters, upping her personal best by more than three feet. Ewen went from 12th-best in American history to third behind 2016 Olympic champion Michelle Carter and Ealey.

Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic ran the fastest women’s 400m since the Tokyo Olympics, clocking 48.98 seconds. Paulino is the Olympic and world silver medalist. Olympic and world champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas is on a maternity break.

Rio Olympic bronze medalist Clayton Murphy won the 800m in 1:44.75, beating a field that included most of the top Americans in the event. Notably absent was 2019 World champion Donovan Brazier, who hasn’t raced since July 20 of last year amid foot problems.

CJ Allen won the 400m hurdles in a personal best 47.91, consolidating his argument as the second-best American in the event behind Olympic and world silver medalist Rai Benjamin, who withdrew from the meet earlier this week.

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Primoz Roglic set to win Giro d’Italia over Geraint Thomas

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 4:13 PM EDT

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Primož Roglič all but secured the Giro d’Italia title on Saturday by overtaking leader Geraint Thomas on the penultimate stage despite having a mechanical problem on the mountain time trial.

Roglič started the stage 26 seconds behind Thomas — who was trying to become the oldest Giro champion in history — but finished the route 40 seconds quicker than the British cyclist after the demanding climb of the Monte Lussari.

That saw Roglič move into the leader’s pink jersey, 14 seconds ahead of Thomas going into the race’s mainly ceremonial final stage.

Roglič was cheered on all the way by thousands of fans from just across the border to his native Slovenia. They packed the slopes of the brutal ascent up Monte Lussari, which had an elevation of more than 3,000 feet and gradients of up to 22%.

The 33-year-old Roglič celebrated at the end with his wife and son, who was wearing a replica of the pink jersey.

“Just something amazing, eh? It’s not at the end about the win itself, but about the people, and the energy here, so incredible, really moments to live and to remember,” said Roglič, who had tears in his eyes during the post-stage television interview, which he did with his son in his arms.

It will be a fourth Grand Tour victory for Roglič, who won the Spanish Vuelta three years in a row from 2019-2021

Roglič also almost won the Tour de France in 2020, when he was leading going into another mountain time trial on the penultimate stage. But that time it was Roglič who lost time and the race to compatriot Tadej Pogačar in one of the most memorable upsets in a Grand Tour in recent years.

It appeared as if the Jumbo-Visma cyclist’s hopes were evaporating again when he rode over a pothole about halfway through the brutal climb up Monte Lussari and his chain came off, meaning he had to quickly change bicycles.

His teammates and staff had their hands over their heads in disbelief.

Despite that setback, Roglič — who had been 16 seconds ahead of Thomas at the previous intermediate time check — went on to increase his advantage.

“I dropped the chain, I mean it’s part of it,” he said. “But I got started again and I just went … I had the legs, the people gave me extra (energy).”

The 33-year-old Roglič won the stage ahead of Thomas. Joao Almeida was third, 42 seconds slower.

For Thomas, his bad luck at the Giro continued. In 2017, he was involved in a crash caused by a police motorbike, and three years later he fractured his hip after a drinks bottle became lodged under his wheel – being forced to abandon both times.

Thomas turned 37 on Thursday. The Ineos Grenadiers cyclist had seemed poised to become the oldest Giro winner in history — beating the record of Fiorenzo Magni, who was 34 when he won in 1955.

“I could feel my legs going about a kilometer and a half from the top. I just didn’t feel I had that real grunt,” Thomas said. “I guess it’s nice to lose by that much rather than a second or two, because that would be worse I think.

“At least he smashed me and to be honest Primoz deserves that. He had a mechanical as well, still put 40 seconds into me so chapeau to him. If you’d told me this back in (February), March, I would have bit your hand off but now I’m devastated.”

Thomas and Roglič exchanged fist bumps as they waited their turn to ride down the ramp at the start of the 11.6-mile time trial.

The Giro will finish in Rome on Sunday, with 10 laps of a seven-mile circuit through the streets of the capital, taking in many of its historic sites.

“One more day to go, one more focus, because I think the lap is quite hard, technical. So it’s not over til it’s finished,” Roglič said. “But looks good, voila.”

The route will pass by places such as the Altare della Patria, the Capitoline Hill, the Circus Maximus and finish at the Imperial Forums, in the shadow of the Colosseum.

The Tour de France starts July 1, airing on NBC Sports and Peacock.

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