Summer McIntosh continues to make waves, ending Katie Ledecky’s 13-year unbeaten streak in the 800-meter freestyle.
It’s Ledecky’s first defeat in a finals race in the 800 since 2010. She did lose a preliminary race to Leah Smith in the prelims of the 2019 World Championships, although Ledecky would go on to win in the final.
McIntosh was nearly six seconds faster than Ledecky, in a time of 8:11.39, which would have won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. The time makes her the second-fastest woman in the distance behind Ledecky, although Ledecky still owns 15 faster times ahead of that – including the world record.
The defeat is the latest by McIntosh, who became the first person to beat Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle on U.S. soil in 11 years. The 17-year-old Canadian star also held the world record in the 400 for three months before Australia’s Ariarne Titmus took it back.
In March of 2022, she snapped Ledecky’s nine-year domestic win streak in the 200 free. Now, Ledecky only remains undefeated in the U.S. in the 1500 freestyle.
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