Katie Ledecky loses first 800m race since 2010 as Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh breaks through

Summer McIntosh was 3 years old when Katie Ledecky lost her last 800 freestyle race. After more than 13 years, the young Canadian phenomenon snapped Ledecky's winning streak when she clocked 8:11.39 seconds at a meet in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.

McIntosh, who broke the Canadian national record by more than eight seconds, was nearly six seconds faster than Ledecky on Thursday. The performance also makes McIntosh, 17, the second-fastest woman ever behind Ledecky, who still owns the 16-fastest times in history at the distance. Entering Thursday, Ledecky had the 29th fastest time ever in the 800 free.

The fireworks produced at the relatively unheralded Florida meet could serve as a preview of an all-time Olympic showdown this summer. In Paris, Ledecky will aim to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal in the middle distance race. In 2016, she set the world record in the race with a time of 8:04.79.

And with Thursday's result, McIntosh – who missed the 800m final at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo – may be more inclined to give the race another shot at the 2024 Olympics. McIntosh's time on Thursday night would have eclipsed gold medalist Ledecky's effort in the Tokyo.

McIntosh first came into the international limelight in Tokyo, where he finished fourth in the 400m freestyle when he was 14 years old. In April 2023, she set two world records in one week, in the 400-meter freestyle and 400-meter individual medley.

A few months later at the 2023 World Championships, Ledecky overtook McIntosh in the 4 OHM freestyle, but finished second to Australian Ariarne Titmuss, who set a new world record in the race. Titmus (23 years old) is the gold medal winner in the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle races.

Since Ledecky, 26, last lost in the 800 meters, at the 2010 Potomac Valley Championships, she has become one of the most decorated female athletes in American history and the greatest Olympian of all time. Besides the 800m, she also holds the world record in the 1,500m freestyle and previously held the world record in the 400m freestyle.

Ledecky has won seven gold medals and three silver medals at three Olympics. With two gold medals in Paris, she will match Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals by a woman with nine.