Shock as shy schoolgirl, 15, who only took up swimming to make friends breezes to gold medal... and new U.S. record
Katie Ledecky took gold in women's 800m freestyle in 8:14.63
She is the youngest member of Team USA
Beat defending Olympics champion Rebecca Adlington from Britain
Beat U.S. record of 8:16.22 set by Janet Evans in 1989
Olympics tryouts were her first major competition
Just finished freshman high school year and has no driver's learning permit
By Lydia Warren
She started swimming with her brother as a way to make friends because, as she says, 'we didn't know anybody'.
But Katie Ledecky won't need to worry about not being recognised anymore after the 15-year-old, and the youngest member of Team USA, breezed to a gold medal on Friday.
Ledecky flew into the lead during the women's 800m freestyle and snatched the title with a time of 8:14.63, beating defending Olympics champion, British swimmer Rebecca Adlington.
Winner: Fifteen-year-old Katie Ledecky holds her gold medal after winning the women's 800m freestyle final and setting a new U.S. record. She first started swimming as a way to make friends
Her time even smashed the U.S. record of 8:16.22, which had been held by Janet Evans since 1989, and just missed the world record of 8:14.10, set by Adlington in Beijing in 2008.
She won four seconds ahead of Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain, who touched in 8:18.76, while Adlington finished in 8:20.32 for bronze.
Not bad for a girl who's only just completed her freshman year of high school and hasn't even got her driver's learning permit yet.
Ledecky is the youngest of the 529 Team USA athletes and now the second youngest swimming gold medalist in the team's history after Beth Botsford, who won gold in Atlanta in 1996.
She had never even swam a major competition before the Olympic tryouts in June, as her coach had wanted her to work steadily towards the big titles despite her obvious talent.
From freshman year to the Olympics: Ledecky, pictured left in her Stone Ridge High School picture, is the youngest member of Team USA and the second youngest U.S. swimming gold medalist ever
Shock: Ledecky gasps as she realises she has won gold on Friday. Her astonishing time comes just two months after she took part in her first major competition
Joy: Before the race, Ledecky's mother said they were just hoping for a good experience - nothing more
Power: Ledecky's time of 8:14.63 just fell short of the world record of 8:14.10, set at the last Olympics
'I always thought of the Olympics as this unreal thing,' Ledecky, who stands at 5 ft 10, said earlier this summer. 'My only goal, when I was six, was to make the A meets.'
Rather than swimming in the senior nationals last summer, she swam in the junior nationals, where she won three events and the high-point trophy.
'Katie could have skipped some steps, but she has learned from each experience and still moved up the competitive ladder,' Coach Yuri Suguiyama said.
'Some people questioned us not taking her to Nationals last summer, but I think it was great that she was able to go to Juniors, win four races and win the high-point award.'
The hard, consistent work of her coaches in her hometown of Bethesda, Maryland has clearly paid off; Ledecky swam 21 seconds faster in London than she had the same time last year.
Team: Ledecky, right, with the other swimmers on Team USA, including gold medalist Missy Franklin, left
[IMG]Having fun: Ledecky's mother said she has enjoyed the camaraderie of the Games and has come out her shell She's not the first 15-year-old from Maryland to qualify for the Olympics. The last was Michael Phelps in 2000. He now has the most Olympics medals ever at a staggering 21. Her family joined their local Maryland pool in 2003, and she and her brother Michael joined the swimming team as a way to make friends because 'we didn't know anybody', she explained. Despite meeting friends in the pool and at Stone Ridge High School, Ledecker and her teammates admit that she is still shy and reserved. 'I’m not into much pop 15-year-old kind of things,' she told Yahoo Sports, adding that she doesn't even have her driving learner's permit yet. 'She is adorable,' veteran swimmer Natalie Coughlin added to NBC. 'The first few days she was so quiet because she was really young.
Proud: Left, Ledecky poses in her USA Olympics uniform. Right, she grins after her impressive win
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