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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Pat Forde

It Was the Closest Race Yet, but Katie Ledecky Is Still the Queen of the 800 Freestyle, 13 Years and Counting

Katie Ledecky captured her seventh 800-meter freestyle world championship title in Singapore on Saturday. | Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

From the very start, this was different from any 800-meter freestyle Katie Ledecky had ever swum. The usual empty water that surrounds her as she crushes the competition, racing only herself, was gone.

She had company to her left, company to her right. Someone was there every single time she took a breath—pressing her, chasing her, testing the depth of her greatness. They never went away.

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