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Rio de Janeiro • Katie Ledecky, that unbeatable, unreachable 19-year-old American who made these Rio Olympics her own, got no more than 90 minutes of sleep after her fourth gold medal in a week. Once the world saw her touch the wall 11 seconds faster than second place in Friday's 800-meter women's freestyle, the rest of her night was a blur of mixed zones, interviews and a whole lot of staying up late.
After she spoke to the media at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Ledecky was summoned to a round of drug testing. Then she spoke with Bob Costas. A few more NBC interviews followed. She returned to the Olympic Village around 2 a.m., but wanted to stay up for her roommate, Maya DiRado, who herself won a gold medal a few minutes before Ledecky.
DiRado had a stint on Ryan Seacrest's late show, so when she eventually walked through the door around 3:30 a.m., Rio's superstar was there waiting for her. Both American gold medalists had to be up for a 6:30 a.m. spot on The Today Show for another close-up. In the weeks and months leading up to the Olympics here in Brazil, veteran Olympic journalists predicted Ledecky as an athlete due for a serious break out in Rio.
Four gold medals and two world records later, Ledecky surpassed all expectation. The humble youngster who will enroll at Stanford in a few weeks rather than go professional has vowed the manner in which she's won her golds doesn't matter.
"Dominance is never something I think about," she said. "That would be basing goals on other people and I don't think that's ever a wise thing to do. I'm just focused on improving my own times, doing my very best every time I step up on the blocks."
On Friday night, it was Ledecky, out in front for the entire race, who continued to put more seconds between herself and the pack. During her last 800-meter Olympic race in London as a 15-year-old — yes, she won gold there, too — she couldn't help but think, "Wow, I'm at the Olympics," with every breath taken.
That mindset didn't change four years later, as evidenced.
"Nothing different than any other time," Ledecky said. "Throughout the race, I was just appreciating every moment competing at the Olympics."
So what exactly will be pushing the future Stanford swimmer in Tokyo in four years? Will she be obliterating the competition in the NCAA's the way she did the world's best swimmers in Brazil? Rather than cashing in on a week as the focal point of these Olympics, she'll tuck away her gold medals somewhere and head for Palo Alto, Calif., to swim and study.
"I only really want to represent myself and my family and my coach and my teammates," she said. "I don't really feel like I need to represent something bigger than that right now. I think down the road I would love to be a professional swimmer, but first and foremost, I want to get a really great education and have the opportunities that collegiate swimming brings. To do that, I have to remain an amateur."
Ledecky will arrive on The Farm in early September and board another flight for Hawaii, where the Cardinal swim team is heading for a preseason bonding trip. Orientation awaits when she returns to the Bay Area. Freshman year starts the end of the month.
"It's time to start setting some new goals," she said.
What in the world could they be?
— Chris Kamrani
Twitter: @chriskamrani