--- title: Rio 2016 Olympics: Katie Ledecky Wins Gold, Sets World Record description: Katie Ledecky broke her own world record in winning her first gold medal of the Rio Olympics canonical: https://time.com/4442634/ledecky-gold-world-record-rio-2016-olympics/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-08T03:11:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-15T20:52:07.000Z article:section: Sports og:title: Rio 2016 Olympics: Katie Ledecky Wins Gold, Sets World Record og:description: Ledecky broke her own world record in winning her first gold of the Olympics og:url: https://time.com/4442634/ledecky-gold-world-record-rio-2016-olympics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ecb66cbf200822/6988a17a8e060149e246711f/gettyimages-587149868.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Swimming - Rio 2016 Olympic Games og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rio 2016 Olympics: Katie Ledecky Wins Gold, Sets World Record twitter:description: Ledecky broke her own world record in winning her first gold of the Olympics twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ecb66cbf200822/6988a17a8e060149e246711f/gettyimages-587149868.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ledecky, Phelps Lead Big Night for USA Swimming in Rio > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Updated: Jan 15, 2026 8:52 PM UTCPublished: Aug 8, 2016 3:11 AM UTC  Katie Ledecky of United States celebrates after winning the Women's 400m Freestyle Final of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 07, 2016. Katie Ledecky of United States celebrates after winning the Women's 400m Freestyle Final of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 07, 2016.Anadolu Agency—Getty Images  by [Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Updated: Jan 15, 2026 8:52 PM UTCPublished: Aug 8, 2016 3:11 AM UTC There was little doubt that [Katie Ledecky](http://time.com/4439642/olympics-2016-rio-athletes-follow/item/katie-ledecky/) would touch the wall first in the 400-m freestyle. The world-record holder in the event, at this point the 19-year-old from suburban Maryland is racing against herself. Each time she dives into the water, she’s swimming to beat her own last personal best. And that’s exactly what Ledecky did in [Rio](http://time.com/topic/2016-rio-olympics/) on day two of the [Olympic](http://time.com/topic/2016-rio-olympics/) [swimming events](http://time.com/4442088/rio-2016-olympics-swimming-what-to-watch/). After the first 50 m, Ledecky started to edge ahead of her competitors; after that it was her against the clock, and against her own two-year-old world record and the Olympic record, which she set earlier in the day in the qualifying heats. After the first 100 m, she was under world-record pace and never lost it. She toyed with the seconds, slowing a little after 150 m but never giving up her blistering world-record stroke. Her final time was 3 min. 56.46 sec., enough to easily win gold — what is expected to be her first of many at these Games — and shatter her own world record by nearly two seconds. **Read More:** [_The Must-Watch Swimming Races in Rio_](http://time.com/4442088/rio-2016-olympics-swimming-what-to-watch/) “After Worlds in 2015, I knew I could do better,” Ledecky said after the race. “I just let it all out. I had a lot of confidence that I was going to have a great meet, and I was really relaxed, not shaking when I was getting up on the blocks tonight.” Only Ledecky could make it look so easy. Her closest competitor, Great Britain’s Jazz Carlin, came in nearly five seconds behind for the silver. American teammate Leah Smith earned bronze. More than a body length ahead of the rest of the pool the entire race, Ledecky never showed she swam the anchor leg in the women’s 4 x 100-m freestyle relay just 24 hours earlier, leading the U.S. to silver behind a staunch Australian team. That was on top of two other qualifying heats. It’s unusual for a distance swimmer to be chosen for a 100-m relay leg — a distance considered a sprint — but for Ledecky, it’s just another race with a wall and a fast time at the end. **Read More:** [_Sex-Abuse Allegations Reach Team USA in Rio_](http://time.com/4440247/rio-2016-olympics-gymnastics-sex-abuse/) Ledecky’s gold set a precedent for the remaining relay of the night, the men’s 4×100 m that featured Michael Phelps’ first race in Rio. The U.S. failed to final in the event at last year’s world championships, at which Phelps didn’t compete because USA Swimming kept him off the team following his DUI arrest. With his fiancée, mother and baby son swaddled in a stars-and-stripes carrier in the stands, Phelps swam the second leg of the relay with Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian and led the field including reigning world champions France, in all but one turn. That makes 19 golds for Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, if you’re still counting. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4442634/ledecky-gold-world-record-rio-2016-olympics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4442634/ledecky-gold-world-record-rio-2016-olympics/"},"headline":"Ledecky, Phelps Lead Big Night for USA Swimming in Rio","datePublished":"2016-08-08T03:11:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-15T20:52:07.000Z","description":"Ledecky broke her own world record in winning her first gold of the Olympics","url":"https://time.com/4442634/ledecky-gold-world-record-rio-2016-olympics/","keywords":["olympics","swimming","Michael Phelps","Summer Olympics","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ecb66cbf200822/6988a17a8e060149e246711f/gettyimages-587149868.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park/Rio de Janeiro"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ecb66cbf200822/6988a17a8e060149e246711f/gettyimages-587149868.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Swimming - Rio 2016 Olympic Games","caption":"Swimming - Rio 2016 Olympic Games","creditText":"Anadolu Agency—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4442634/ledecky-gold-world-record-rio-2016-olympics/","name":"Ledecky, Phelps Lead Big Night for USA Swimming in Rio"}}]}] ```