2016 Olympics Swimming Results: Katie Ledecky broke the world record, but Virginia’s Leah Smith wins bronze

Everyone is talking about Katie Ledecky’s world record performance in Sunday night’s 400m freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, but close behind (in a relative sense) was Virginia’s first-time Olympian Leah Smith, who came away with a bronze medal.

Unsurprisingly, Ledecky dominated the race start to finish with a new world record, coming in at 3:56.46. Great Britain’s Jazmin Carlin finished nearly a full five seconds behind Ledecky at 4:01.23 for silver. Smith gained ground in the final 100, but ultimately was unable to overtake Carlin, coming in at 4:01.92 for the bronze medal.

Smith becomes just the sixth Cavalier to win an Olympic medal. In 2012, both Lauren Perdue and Matt McLean picked up gold medals. Ed Moses won both a gold and silver in 2000, while Melanie Valerio won gold in 1996 and Wendy Weinberg won a bronze medal in 1976.