Ledecky upsets defending Olympic champion Adlington in 800-meter freestyle
Reuters
Katie Ledecky of the U.S. wins the women's 800-meter freestyle on Friday.
updated 3:00 p.m. ET Aug. 3, 2012
LONDON - American teenager Katie Ledecky pulled off a stunning upset in the women's 800 meters freestyle final on Friday, ruining Rebecca Adlington's hopes of providing Britain with their first gold medal in swimming at the London Olympics.
The 15-year-old Ledecky, the youngest member of the American team, gave her rivals no chance as she led all the way to snatch the gold medal in a time of eight minutes 14.63 seconds, missing the world record in the longest event for women in the pool by half a second.
Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia took the silver, her second of the Games after she finished runner-up in the 200 butterfly two days ago, but was more than four seconds behind Ledecky, who slashed more than five seconds off her personal best.
Adlington held on to win the bronze despite fading over the last 150 meters after she had tried to take the field up to Ledecky, who set off at a cracking tempo and was under world record pace for all but the last lap.
dlington ended Britain's long drought in swimming champions by winning two gold medals in Beijing four years ago but finished third in both the 400 and 800 this time.
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Paul Sancya / AP
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