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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ledecky to tackle all 4 distances in Tokyo – 200 to 1,500

Katie Ledecky of the U.S., checks her time after winning the women's 1500m freestyle final during the Pan Pacific swimming championships in Tokyo, Sunday, Aug.12, 2018. (Koji Sasahara / Associated Press)
By Stephen Wade Associated Press

They’ve added a new swimming event to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – the 1,500 meter freestyle – and Katie Ledecky plans to be racing it.

This could pose a problem, even for the five-time Olympic champion and 14-time world champion.

She won the 200, 400, and 800 two years ago in Rio de Janeiro. Now add to that the 1,500. So is Ledecky planning to perhaps drop the 200, maybe her weakest race, and focus on the longer distances?

She lost the 200 a few days ago in the Pan Pacific Championships, her only blemish on a strong showing this week in the Japanese capital.

“I don’t anticipate trying to drop any of them,” she said Sunday after winning the 1,500 at the Pan Pacs on the final day of the four-day meet.

The meet serves as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics in two years and is the biggest meet of the year for swimmers from the Pacific region.

It was held at the Tatsumi swimming center, which is only a five-minute walk from the new Olympic aquatic center under construction. It should be completed early in 2020.

Certainly Ledecky won’t drop the 1,500. Her time of 15 minutes, 38.97 seconds, was the 10th fastest in history. She now owns nine of the top 10 times in that event – and the world record.