Katie Ledecky claimed her first gold medal of the world championships Sunday, cruising to a dominating win in the women’s 400-meter freestyle though she failed to break her own world record.
As expected, the 20-year-old American pulled away on the very first lap and was essentially racing the clock the rest of the way. She finished in 3 minutes, 58.34 seconds — more than 3 seconds ahead of US teammate Leah Smith. China’s Li Bingjie took the bronze.
Ledecky has set such a high standard that her time was a bit of a letdown. She finished nearly 2 seconds off the world record (3:56.46) she set at the Rio Olympics.
Of course, Ledecky likely wanted to conserve energy for her second event of the night, swimming the third leg of the 4x100 free relay. It is all part of her audacious goal to win six gold medals covering 6,300 meters in Budapest.
Ledecky did not have much of a reaction after touching the wall, but she eventually broke into a big smile and hugged Smith.
Then, it was off to get ready for the relay.
In the first swimming final of the championships, China’s Sun Yang got a bit of payback for his Olympic defeat in the men’s 400 freestyle by pulling away from rival Mack Horton of Australia.
Yang was in a league of his own in a stacked field that featured the past three Olympic champions: Horton (2016), Sun (2012) and South Korea’s Park Tae-hwan (2008).
“I have no exact target for the week,” the 25-year-old Sun said through an interpreter. “I’m in a lot of pain. I’ve been training a lot for the last year. I’m also getting old, so there are a couple of injuries here and there. I’m always wrapped up in tape after every competition.”
The Chinese star finished more than two body lengths ahead of the field, touching the wall in 3:41.38. Horton settled for the silver, far back at 3:43.85, while Park finished fourth behind bronze medalist Gabriele Detti of Italy.
Last summer in Rio de Janeiro, Horton defeated Sun in the 400 free final after calling him a “drug cheat” over his three-month doping suspension in 2014. The Aussie has made it clear he does noy think anyone who tests positive should be allowed to compete — which also applies to Park, who served a doping suspension that ended before the 2016 Olympics.
“I’m just going to focus on what’s happening this week and do my best,” Sun said.
Horton shrugged off his loss to Sun, saying “the most disappointing thing for me was the time.”
“Placings didn’t really matter this year,” the runner-up said. “This is the first year after an Olympics, so I was basically re-setting my cycle for the next Olympics in a couple of years. I just would have liked a faster time, but I guess it means I have stuff I can work on over the next couple of years.”

source:Arab News