Until Katie Ledecky, Women Were Banned From 1500m Olympics Event For 50 Years: “Only Men Could Swim”

Discrimination isn’t an alien thing even in the world of sports, despite whatever the big shots tell us. One of the biggest issues that kept fans puzzled over the years was the 1500m events not being an option for female swimmers in the Olympics, while the men continued to enjoy the thrills of the distance. However, fans didn’t have to look too far and wide before Katie Ledecky ushered in one of the most desired changes in the domain of female swimming.

Ledecky, often considered one of the greatest swimmers of all time, has more accolades in her bag than most others. And yet, the 1500m Olympic gold remains an elusive achievement that even the 27-year-old boasts only one in her medal cabinet. However, that hasn’t stopped her from heralding a much-awaited change in the state of things.

In her recently released autobiography, Just Add Water, Ledecky talked about how the absence of the women’s 1500m free as an Olympic event always surprised her, even as a child. “I‘d wondered since I was young why only the men could swim the 1500 at the Olympics,” wrote Katie in her book. While at the World Championships, the event was a regular feature, the case wasn’t the same for the Olympics.

However, things changed three years ago, when women were also allowed to swim a distance longer than the 800m for the first time at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Many would agree, that it would be Katie and her colleagues’ relentless dominance in the 1500m that made the IOC take notice of their prowess and finally agree that it was time to give the female swimmers an equal share of the stage as their male peers.

The inclusion proved to be a boon for the American athlete, who walked away from the Asian capital as the first-ever gold medalist in the women’s 1500m freestyle race on the biggest stage of them all. And now, she is eyeing to also become the first-ever woman to defend the gold medal in the event.

History awaits Katie Ledecky

At the US Olympic Swimming Team Trials in Indiana, Indianapolis, Katie has qualified in two events so far for the upcoming Paris Games. After securing her spot in Team USA for the women’s 400m free race, Katie also won the 200m freestyle race to seal her qualification in that event as well. However, soon after she shocked her fans by revealing intentions of stepping down from the team in the 200m free race to focus on the longer races. Later this week, Katie will be entering the 800m and 1500m races in a bid to make it to the French capital to defend her 1500m gold.

By winning the first women’s 1500m race in the 2021 Olympics, Katie is also the current record holder in the event. However, international stars like Binge Li and Lani Pallister won’t make things easy for the American swimmer on the grand stage by any means. Now, with the qualifying races yet to happen at the Indianapolis Colts stadium later this week, it remains to be seen if Katie’s dream of making history can give her the extra boost she needs, or if fatigue becomes the major adversity on her road to immortality.