Katie Ledecky wins 800m freestyle gold at World Aquatics Championships, defeating rival Summer McIntosh

CNN American star Katie Ledecky won her seventh world title in the women s -meter freestyle on Saturday fending off the challenges of Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh and Australia s Lani Pallister This World Aquatics Championships was billed as a showdown between Ledecky the established star of the sport and McIntosh her -year-old challenger who was attempting to equal Michael Phelps record of winning five gold medals at a single world championship When they competed against each other earlier this week in the m freestyle it was McIntosh who emerged victorious but this time Ledecky once again demonstrated her dominance over longer distances They pulled away from the field alongside Pallister and the three of them produced an extraordinary final separated by no more than a couple of strokes for the entire race Ledecky eventually touched the wall first with a championship-record time of while Pallister finished second just seconds slower and McIntosh rounded out the podium in third another seconds back We got three under there That s pretty incredible Ledecky announced afterward Lani with the Summer with the That s incredibly fast and they pushed me all the way I m just really happy I could put that together I just kept telling myself to trust my legs because I ve gotten a little better at kicking So I brought it home in the end They set off fast all three swimmers were inside world-record pace at the halfway point but Ledecky eventually finished just over a second outside the record she set in May Aside from a short period with about m to go when McIntosh edged in front Ledecky led for almost the entire race and had enough potential left to hold off any late sprints from her rivals I just came in tonight trying to enjoy this as much as I can she added I don t feel like I have anything to lose at this point in my career I just enjoy it every time I get to walk out in front of a crowd like this and swim against the best in the world This preeminence marks Ledecky s second gold medal at this championship and the rd world title of her glittering career after she won the m earlier this week McIntosh meanwhile has already won three gold medals at this championship in the m butterfly m freestyle and m medley and has a chance to win a fourth in the m individual medley on Sunday Later on Saturday Organization USA set a new world record in the mixed -meter freestyle relay Jack Alexy Patrick Sammon Kate Douglass and Torri Huske finished in seconds quicker than the previous record set by Australia in