Katie Ledecky Sets World Record, Wins 400M Freestyle Gold Medal at 2016 Olympics

Katie Ledecky captured her first Olympic gold medal when she emerged victorious in the 800-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and she added to her hardware collection Sunday, nabbing the gold medal in the women's 400-meter freestyle final.  

Ledecky finished with a world-record time of three minutes, 56.46 seconds, while Great Britain's Jazz Carlin (4:01.23) and American Leah Smith (4:01.92) took home the silver medal and bronze medal, respectively. NBC Olympics captured just how dominant Ledecky was during Sunday's race:

The biggest competition during the event was the battle for second place, as Ledecky cleared the rest of the field by nearly five seconds. For context, seventh-place finisher Jessica Ashwood was closer to second than Smith was to the dominant Ledecky.

Given the way Ledecky impressed at the Olympic trials in July, her showing in the 400 free final shouldn't have come as a surprise. 

The 19-year-old wunderkind had the world record in her sights through 200 meters at the trials in June, but she tired down the stretch and finished in 3:58.98 seconds, according to the Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports). 

However, that mark was still good enough to rank No. 3 all time. According to SwimSwam.com's Braden Keith, Ledecky also owns the top two spots on the list following a stellar effort at the 2014 U.S. Nationals (3:58.86) and her legendary swim at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships (3:58.37).

"Her stroke, her mentality: She’s so strong in the water. I’ve never seen a female swimmer like that," Olympian Ryan Lochte said, per Sports Illustrated's S.L. Price. "She gets faster every time she gets in, and her times are becoming good for a guy. She’s beating me now, and I’m, like, 'What is going on?'"

What's scary is Ledecky is just warming up. 

With the 800-meter freestyle ahead and a chance to defend the first gold medal she ever captured on the Olympic stage, the most dominant swimmer in the world should be motivated to defend her throne and show the rest of the world that the Red, White and Blue are a force to be reckoned with in the water.