Wild Photo Shows Katie Ledecky With Another Laughably Big Lead in 1500M Final

Ledecky's margin of victory in the 1500-meter freestyle final was shocking.

Katie Ledecky was back to being her dominant self on Wednesday as she won gold in the 1500-meter freestyle in emphatic fashion. Visuals of how far ahead of the field she was were staggering.

Ledecky won the race in an Olympic record time of 15:30.02, finishing more than 10 seconds ahead of her closest competition. As is typical in Ledecky's 1500-meter races, she was so far ahead her opponents were often not even in the picture.

Here are a few shots of how far ahead she got.

smh pic.twitter.com/gaavR2yWnh

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 31, 2024

Making it to the OLYMPICS only to see Katie Ledecky swimming past you in the opposite direction has to be an incredibly humbling feeling pic.twitter.com/xv9ox4sOqg

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) July 31, 2024

Katie Ledecky has knocked the competition out of the camera frame. She's swimming by herself. pic.twitter.com/yHgWo5VNjV

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 31, 2024

Utter dominance from Katie Ledecky pic.twitter.com/AZVNhllaEn

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 31, 2024

Ledecky now owns the 20 fastest times in the history of the women's 1500-meter freestyle. It truly is her race.

Katie Ledecky: Pretty good at the 1500 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/hCdKynGw25

— Mitch Goldich 🐙 (@mitchgoldich) July 31, 2024

France's Anastasiya Kirpichnikova earned the silver medal with a time of 15:40.35, and Germany's Isabel Gose won bronze at 15:41.16.

Ledecky's big victory ensured eighth Olympic gold medal, tying her with Jenny Thompson for the most by a female swimmer. Her 12 total medals also tie Thompson for the most among female swimmers. She'll have a chance to take sole possession in both categories with the 800-meter freestyle in a few days. She is the three-time defending gold medalist in that race.

Ledecky previously won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle this Olympics, losing to Australian rival Ariarne Titmus. She'll face Titmus again in the 800 meters.