Katie Ledecky’s long reign as the world’s best 800-meter freestyle swimmer is, at least temporarily, over.
The nine-time Olympic gold medalist was knocked off her perch Saturday night at the Pan Pacific Championships by Lani Pallister of Australia, who touched the wall in 8:06.10 seconds, over a second ahead of Ledecky’s 8:07.26, which took silver.
It’s just the second time since 2010 that Ledecky has been defeated in the 800-meter freestyle, where she has won Olympic gold four times, but the first time in her career where she has lost in the event at an international meet.
“That was definitely my best swim of the week, so I’m actually pretty happy with it,” Ledecky told reporters in Irvine, Calif. “If I was going to get second tonight, I wanted to make it a good one. It’s a season best, so you can’t complain about that.
“It’s fine. I wasn’t really thinking too much about my history in the event or anything leading into this. I just wanted to have a good last event here. I’m really proud of the history I have in this event, and that doesn’t go anywhere just from getting second.”
The 29-year-old Ledecky was also bested by Pallister in the 400-meter freestyle, though she did take gold in the 1,500.
Two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics, where Ledecky will compete in home water, the result highlights the challenge facing the greatest female American swimmer in history.
“I work really hard and I’m really proud of myself and the journey that I’ve been on to get here,” Pallister, 24, told reporters. “It’s not just this year. It’s an accumulation of hardships and training and performance shifts and moving out of home and that sort of thing. So I think that result’s the sum of a lot of little moments and it’s something that I’ll never take for granted.”
