Best of the Tokyo Olympics: 16 stunning photos of Katie Ledecky dominating the competition for Team USA

From the photographer, Maddie Meyer:

"Katie Ledecky is a strong competitor whose efficient stroke has led her to many world record freestyle titles. Photographing her can be a challenge! She just barely turns her face out of the water to breathe during her races. I like to try and photograph the water around her, whether it's a big splash or a layer of water hugging her body to show the power of her body moving through the pool."

From the photographer, Tom Pennington:

"This image was shot during a qualifying heat race of the Women's 1500m Freestyle. Katie Ledecky appears to be swimming all alone in the competition pool due to her raw speed and power which allows her to accelerate so far ahead of the rest of the field. The Tokyo 2020 venue branding combines to give the viewer a real sense of place for the historical race as this is the first time women have competed in the 1500m Freestyle at the Olympic level."

From the photographer, Tom Pennington:

"I made this image as Ledecky fired out of the starting block for the Women's 400m Freestyle Final. I focused on Ledecky while shooting down the line of swimmers. All the elements and timing came together in part due to Ledecky's speed and power out of the starting blocks, so her face was clearly visible among the other competitors."

From the photographer, Al Bello:

"This photo was taken from up above with a long lens. Swimmers tend to break out of the water differently after a start of a race and you have to pay attention to where and how they do it. This was Katie Ledecky as she broke out of the water on her first stroke after her start of the race. Everything is pointed in one direction which is forward. The power of her stroke shows here and she is one of the best to ever do it."

From the photographer, Abbie Parr:

"The Olympic Games give us some of the greatest reactions from athletes in sports, so after Ledecky was upset by Ariarne Titmus and finished second in the 400 meter freestyle final, I kept my camera on her to capture any emotion she showed. In this photo Ledecky is pictured as she looks at the time board to see her second place finish. Afterwards, Ledecky appeared to still be in great spirits and immediately congratulated Titmus with a smile on her face. It was an honor to cover these two incredible athletes."

From the photographer, Al Bello:

"I had seen many tight, close-up photographs of Katie Ledecky swimming her races and reactions to her wins throughout the Olympic Games. The fact that there were no crowds at the venues due to pandemic created a very surreal atmosphere. Only the teams were allowed in the stands. There was a small section of the stands where the Team USA was sitting and I wanted to tell the story of the event going on in one photo. I shot this with Team USA cheering on Ledecky as she won the gold medal in the Women's 800m Freestyle Final. I used a wider lens and framed the team in the foreground and the action in the background."

From the photographer, Abbie Parr:

Going into covering the Olympic Games, I knew one of the major storylines was going to be Ariarne Titmus of Australia being a major competitor to defending Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky of the United States. When shooting this highly anticipated gold medal race, I kept my camera between those two the entire time. I tried to frame some images with both Ledecky and Titmus in the photo to show how close of the race would be. Once Titmus started to pull ahead towards the end, I made sure to shoot it with Ledecky falling behind in the background because I knew it would be one of the biggest stories of the Olympic Games. My goal was to create a photo that with one look could tell the entire story between these two fierce competitors.

From the photographer, Maddie Meyer:

"In this photo, Katie Ledecky becomes emotional for a moment following her 1500m Freestyle win. Immediately after touching the wall, she turned towards her teammates, yelling and pumping her fist in the air. After the initial winning moment passed, she turned her back to the stands and lost her composure just for a second. I've heard her speak several times about the historic nature of the Women's 1500m race, and the weight of it seemed to hit her after winning yet another gold medal."

From the photographer, Al Bello:

"This photo shows Katie Ledecky alone getting out of the pool after the race. It was towards the end of the grueling nine days of swimming and Katie was in the grind as they say. Ledecky seems alone with her thoughts as she struggles to get herself out of the water. It is moments like these where as an athlete you get to the point of exhaustion and the truly great ones find that extra gear. Ledecky is one of those athletes. It's been a privilege to be able to photograph her in her prime."

From the photographer, Tom Pennington:

"I shot this photo using an underwater robotic camera during the Women's 400m Freestyle heat race. I triggered the camera using a laptop computer that is networked into the robotic camera positioned on the bottom of the competition pool. The angle perfectly illustrates how dominant Ledecky was over the other swimmers in the heat race."

From the photographer, Al Bello:

"I like this picture because there is genuine respect, friendship and admiration between the
two Katies. Grimes, who competed in her first Olympics at age 15, is the heir apparent and Ledecky, who is an absolute legend, has been nothing but gracious. This photo shows that special bond between them."

From the photographer, Tom Pennington:

"This image was made as Katie Ledecky reacted to winning the silver medal during the Women's 400m Freestyle Final. This moment wasn't your typical Olympic celebration filled with intense emotion, it was a little subtle in nature, but Ledecky's facial expression stood out completely."

From the photographer, Al Bello:

"This was just a read and react photo of Katie Ledecky after she won the Women's 1500m Freestyle Final. Ledecky is not one to show much emotion so it was fun to see her be so excited. She is such a tough competitor and the long races she competes in are grueling mentally and physically."

From the photographer, Maddie Meyer:

"Here Katie Ledecky holds her gold medal behind silver medalist Ariarne Titmus. In the two shorter races they competed in, Titmus took the gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle races. When the longer races began, Ledecky shined. She was back to where we usually see her — winning gold definitively. I like this moment after the medal ceremony as the athletes take a lap around the pool, it's a nice chance to get a different angle on the celebration."

From the photographer, Tom Pennington:

"This is a second angle I was able to capture with the underwater robotic camera during the Women's 400m Freestyle heat race. I can reposition the camera to shoot a different perspective after Katie Ledecky passes over the camera. During this heat race, I wanted to shoot an isolation action photo after shooting the head-on perspective. All the elements came together with Ledecky's face fully visible."

From the photographer, Maddie Meyer:

"In this photo, Katie Ledecky hugs teammate Erica Sullivan after completing the Women's 1500m Final. This was the first time the 1500m race was available for women to compete in, and Ledecky has spoken about how historic the competition in Tokyo would be. She took gold and Sullivan took silver, setting an Olympic record for the event. During a race, athletes are in their own lane or often separated from their teammates by other athletes, so it was great luck these two were next to each other and I could capture their embrace."