Katie Ledecky (three golds and counting) makes everything look simple
On its face, it seemed unbelievable. Katie Ledecky, the three-time gold medalist and breakout star of the Rio Games, was the anchor for the United States in the 4x200m freestyle relay and faced what appeared to be a tough situation as she dove in for her leg.
That's Tasmin Cook in the pool, obscured by the graphic that denotes her Australian team touched first at the three-quarter mark. That's Ledecky, her back foot still on the block, diving in with a body-length deficit. Up on the left is the time Ledecky had to make up - just under a second.
What was so impressive about what happened next was how unimpressive it actually was. Here's the way the race looked about two minutes later.
Twitter was shocked. (Twitter easily is.) What a comeback! What a race! But do we get surprised when Tom Brady brings the Patriots down the field in two minutes? Is it a stunner when LeBron takes the Cavs on an 11-0 run to take the lead in the NBA Finals? Of course not. The world's greatest athletes make the impossible look so very easy. Given that Ledecky is near the top of that list, why would anyone raise an eyebrow at this?
It was even less surprising given that Cook was a sacrificial lamb. The Aussies swam their two fastest swimmers earlier in the relay and Cook was given the task of watching Ledecky blow by her. And did she ever. Her split, 1:53.74 was the fastest for any of the 32 women in the race by almost a full second and she won by a full body length.
The 0.89-second deficit turned into a 1.84-second win. And despite what you might have thought watching it on TV or seeing it in print, there was only one thing surprising about it: Ledecky didn't even go that fast.
Her split was 0.01 seconds slower than her gold-medal time in the 200 freestyle earlier in the week. Given that relay splits usually run more than a half-second faster than regular swims (getting motion on the rolling relay start is quicker than the stationary start), Ledecky was actually in cruise control rather than in chase-down mode. That's the beauty of her swimming: She never looks like she's working hard, even when working over the fastest swimmers on the planet.
Now, Ledecky is one gold away from becoming the most decorated American woman ever at a single Olympics. She'll do it in Friday's 800m freestyle, an event in which Ledecky holds the world record and is the reigning Olympic champion. Prepare yourself. It'll be hard not to look shocked when Katie Ledecky wins her fourth gold by 10-15 seconds but it's as much of a lock as anything you'll ever see in sports.