Katie Ledecky annihilated her competition Wednesday to win gold for the U.S. in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. She started her anchor leg roughly one second behind Australia, took the lead by her second length and won by about two seconds.
Then after every other swimmer went home to rest – something even Olympic athletes need to do – Ledecky got back in the pool in Rio.
At 1:15 a.m.
Her coach, Bruce Gemmell, posted a photo of Ledecky notching laps:
We've seen this before. The process never ends. Last one in warm down pool. Kazan 2015 and #Rio2016 1:15am. pic.twitter.com/NNQtk5f19O
— Bruce Gemmell (@CoachGemmell) August 11, 2016
Gemmell notes Ledecky has done this before. She did it in Kazan, Russia, during the 2015 world championships where she won five golds in freestyle (200, 400, 800 plus the non-Olympic 1,500 and 4x200 relay). In Rio, she already has three golds (200, 400 and 4x200 relay) along with a silver in the 4x100 relay.
As of Wedneday night ... excuse us, Thursday morning ... Ledecky had one Rio event left, the 800 freestyle. Ledecky's heat was scheduled for early Thursday afternoon, so getting eight hours of sleep must have been tight between practice and the real thing.
But Ledecky did pretty well. She set an Olympic record with a time of 8:12.86.
Guess which one is @katieledecky. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/tgcjzGXcU8
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2016
.@katieledecky wins her heat of the 800m Freestyle by....A LOT. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/HZz1lH5DTw
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2016
A new Olympic record for @katieledecky! @lgsmith19 comes in 4th in the heat. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/vprna8jxkH
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2016
Ledecky will not race again until the 800 freestyle final Friday night. She holds the world record in the event, clocking 8:06.68 at the Arena Pro Swim Series at Austin in January.
Seeing as she does not race until the evening, maybe Ledecky will practice even later into Friday morning.
More Olympics:
-- Lolo Jones: I'm Not Hope Solo
-- How Simone Biles Got Started In Gymnastics -- It Was By Accident
-- Why Did Michael Phelps Laugh During National Anthem? Blame The Orioles
Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.