Olympic Swimming 2016: Women's 200M Freestyle Medal Winners, Times and Results

The United States' Katie Ledecky continued her dominance of the pool at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday with a gold medal in the women's 200-meter freestyle. 

Ledecky turned in a time of one minute, 53.73 seconds and was too much for the rest of the field, including silver medalist Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) and bronze medalist Emma McKeon (Australia). It marked Ledecky's third medal and second gold of these Games, as she already won the 400-meter freestyle and captured silver in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

Here is a look at the times and places of Tuesday's eight-woman competition:

Place	Swimmer	Time
1	Katie Ledecky (United States)	1:53.73
2	Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden)	1:54.08
3	Emma McKeon (Australia)	1:54.92
4	Federica Pellegrini (Italy)	1:55.18
5	Duo Shen (China)	1:55.25
5	Bronte Barratt (Australia)	1:55.25
7	Michelle Coleman (Sweden)	1:56.27
8	Charlotte Bonnet (France)	1:56.29

Ledecky found herself behind in the first 100 meters, but she found a second gear and dominated the final 100. Sjostrom challenged her near the end, but the American outlasted her at the wall. NBC Olympics captured just how close it was in the finishing kick: 

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports pointed out just how impressive Ledecky's performance was on Tuesday: "The 200 free was supposed to be Katie Ledecky's weakest race. She just won a gold medal in it."

Australia's McKeon was actually ahead after the initial 100 meters, but Ledecky and Sjostrom proved to be the best two swimmers in the final stretch. Ledecky seized the lead after 150 meters and didn't give it up, although Sjostrom nearly out-touched the champion.

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports and Nicole Auerbach of USA Today praised the final efforts from the two swimmers:

Ledecky already established herself as a household name in Rio after she set the world record in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3:56.46. She also anchored the United States in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay on a team that included Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil and Dana Vollmer and won silver.

According to Rachel Lutz of NBCOlympics.com, "That silver medal marked the first time in 15 international races, dating back to her surprise gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle in London, that she did not win gold," which means she returned to her winning ways again on Tuesday. 

She is making a habit of gold in Rio:

ESPN Stats & Info put her efforts into historical perspective:

Ledecky came through in the medal stage on Tuesday, but she actually posted the second-best time in the 200-meter freestyle qualifying on Monday. Sjostrom tallied a time of 1:54.65 and appeared to be the biggest threat to Ledecky's chances at a second gold in these Games, which is exactly how the race played out. 

Sjostrom also already set a world record in Rio when she won the women's 100-meter butterfly in 55.48 seconds and beat the rest of the field with relative ease.

Ledecky and Sjostrom were the notable names in Tuesday's race, especially since American Missy Franklin failed to advance to the final during a disappointing qualifying effort on Monday. Franklin won four golds and a bronze at the 2012 London Games, but she couldn't compete with this loaded field this time around in Rio.

Franklin will always be an American swimming legend for her performance in London, but these Olympics belong to Ledecky. She proved as much again on Tuesday.

Post-Race Reaction

After the win, Ledecky said, “That’s the closest I’ve come to having to throw up in the middle of a race,” per Rachel Nichols of ESPN.

Ledecky’s closest foe in the race recognized her greatness. Sjostrom said of Ledecky, “She’s the queen of freestyle. I really need to be 100 percent ready mentally before I go to race [against her],” per Auerbach.

Ledecky said she received some encouragement from someone who could be described as the swimming king, via Auerbach:

While Michael Phelps may be the most decorated Olympian of all time, Ledecky is well on her way to swimming royalty. She took another step on Tuesday.