Katie Ledecky Wins Gold Medal During Women's 800M Freestyle at 2016 Olympics

Katie Ledecky continued her dominance in the women's 800-meter freestyle in Rio on Friday, earning her second consecutive gold in the event with a world-record time of eight minutes, 4.79 seconds. 

Great Britain's Jazz Carlin took home the silver (8:16.17), while Hungary's Boglarka Kapas (8:16.37) won bronze. 

NBC Olympics noted just how far ahead of the rest of the field Ledecky was on Friday:

NBC Olympics also called Ledecky "the most dominant swimmer in the world":

Ledecky's win was nearly a foregone conclusion. Coming into the Rio Games, she owned the top 10 times in the event. She also came into Rio without a loss in the final of any international event since the London Games and held the world records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyle (the latter of which is not an Olympic event).

All of that by the age of 19. To call her a legend in the making is an understatement. With the potential of another three Olympics in front of her, she now has the chance to become one of the most dominant female swimmers in history, and certainly the best freestyler the world has ever seen.

As executive director of USA Swimming Chuck Wielgus told Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post in June, we've now entered the age of Ledecky:

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We're fortunate to be living in this age in our sport, the Ledecky era. I don't think we've ever seen anybody like Katie before. And I think in the future we're going to look back, and the sport's history will be divided into pre-Katie and post-Katie. She'll be this iconic figure by which all future distance and middle-distance swimmers will be measured.

"

Ledecky has done more than just win the 800-meter freestyle in these Olympics. She also secured gold in the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle and the 4x200-meter freestyle relay and captured a silver in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

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