United State swimmer, bounces back from worst Olympic showing to win the grueling 1,500-meter freestyle

All that was left for Katie Ledecky was the grueling women’s 1.500-meter freestyle and she happily answered the call.

The American star was attempting to bounce back from her remarkable summer Olympics career to take the first-ever gold medal in the event. It wasn’t quite the breeze that everyone had expected in the metric mile.

She did build a big lead from the start, then worked hard to hold off fellow American’s Erica Sullivan’s blazing second-place finish. But it was Ledecky touching first in 15 minutes, 37.29 seconds. Sullivan claimed the silver in 15:41.41, and the bronze went to Germany’s Sarah Kohler in 15:42.91.

“I’m just proud to bring home a gold medal to Team USA,” Ledecky said. “I think maybe people feel bad that I’m not winning everything and whatever, but I want people to be more concerned about other things going on in the world, people that are truly suffering.”

Right after the race, she tumbled over the lane rope to give Sullivan a big hug, let out an uncharacteristic scream toward the American cheering section in the almost empty arena, and appeared to be holding back tears as she pulled her goggles back down over her eyes before exiting the pool.

In her initial final of the day, she was blown away by her Australian rival, Ariiarne Timus, who made it 2-for-2 over the American with a soaring win in the 200 freestyle. Ledecky didn’t even medal, the first time that’s happened to her in an Olympic race, and she was so far behind all the way, she never got an higher than her fifth-place finish.

In the 400 freestyle, it was Timus bringing her country women their third individual swimming gold with an Olympic record 1:53,50. In the longer race, the “Terminator” as she’s called, conserved her energy over the first half, then rallied to pass Ledecky with the second-fastest performance in history.

In the 200 freestyle, Ledecky made her first flip in seventh place and finished in 1:55.21, nearly two seconds behind the winner.

After the 200, Ledecky said, “I knew I had to turn the page very quickly. In the warm down pool I was thinking about my family, and kind of each stroke I was thinking of my grandparents.”

Her voice choked with emotion when she spoke about her teammates when she crunched her eyes trying not to cry.

“They are the toughest people I know,” she said, “and that’s what helped me get through with this, helped me win the 1,500, and hurrah for the USA.”