Certified badass Katie Ledecky has won five medals in the Rio Olympics and has broken multiple world records. But there is one event in particular that she didn’t have a chance to compete in. The men’s 1500 meter freestyle race was held on Saturday, but there will be no women’s 1500 meter freestyle race in the Rio Olympics. Meaning that Katie Ledecky will not be able to compete in her own best event.
We all know that Ledecky is more than just a good swimmer. She may be better at swimming than anyone is at anything. She recently broke her own world record in the 800 meter freestyle. She also holds the world record for the 1500 meter freestyle by a lead of 25 seconds. 25 SECONDS! The craziest thing about it is that Ledecky is not just a distance swimmer. She also won the gold in the 200 meter freestyle, an event that takes a completely different skillset than the 1500 meter freestyle. Have you ever heard of an Olympic runner who competes in both sprints and long distances in wins every time? Yeah… didn’t think so.
If only we could witness Ledecky killin it in both the 200 meter and 1500 meter freestyle in the same Olympics. But it has long been a rule that men race the 1500 and that women race the 800, a rule that is based on the belief that women are the weaker sex. This is just one of many sexist traditions faced by Olympic athletes. Seriously? It’s 2016, time for the Olympics to catch up.
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