Phelps enlarges his legend and Ledecky shines again, in Rio pool

American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, enlarged his legend Sunday after earning his 23rd Olympic medal, 19 of them gold, following the US team’s 4x100 freestyle relay victory.

The feat confirms his status as the unrivaled king of swimming, a title that is being fought over in the women’s competition. His fellow American Katie Ledecky today responded to Hungarian Katinka Hosszu’s challenge, garnering a gold in the 400meter freestyle in worldrecord time.

The American relay quartet, formed by Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps, Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian clocked a time of 3: 09.92, 61 hundredth faster than the mark of 3:10.53 by France who again had to settle with silver, repeating the result at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The Australian team completed the podium, thanks to Cameron McEvoy, who managed to clinch the third spot ahead of Russia with a mark of 3:11.37.

With her 400meter freestyle victory, Katie Ledecky, from the US continues her bid to emulate the success that her compatriot Debbie Meyer made in the 200, 400 and 800 frees at the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games.

To do so, the American swimmer, 19, had to lower her own world record of 3:58.37, achieved at the Pan Pacific Championship in 2014 in Australia, by nearly two seconds. She finished with a time of 3:56.46.

Ledecky, the first woman in history to set the time below 3:57, absolutely prevailed against all her rivals in a final that she practically swam alone.

Her winning margin of 4.77 seconds surpassed British Jazz Carlin who finished second with a time of 4:01.23 and her compatriot Leah Smith who came third with a time of 4:01.92.

A landslide victory that earned Ledecky, who was a champion in the 800meter freestyle at the London Olympics four years ago, her second Olympic gold medal after receiving silver in the 4x100meter freestyle relay on Saturday with the US women’s swimming team.