RIO de JANEIRO - It was a fairy tale finish to one career and an incredible start to another at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Former Cardinal standout Maya DiRado '14 pulled off a stunning win in the 200-meter backstroke and incoming freshman Katie Ledecky set a world record with a dominant performance in the 800-meter freestyle on Friday night.
Entering these Games, only four Stanford affiliates had won four medals in a single Olympics, but DiRado and Ledecky each achieved that feat in Rio, and Ledecky surpassed it. The duo joined Jenny Thompson (2000), Summer Sanders (1992), Sharon Stouder Clark (1964) and Chris von Saltza Olmstead (1960) in the Cardinal history books.
In all, Stanford swimmers have accumulated a program-record 12 medals at the Rio Olympic Games. That total surpasses the 11 podium results from the 1992 Games in Barcelona. The Cardinal's seven gold medals equals the program's record from 1996 in Atlanta.
Ledecky matched Debbie Meyer (1968) as the only women's swimmers to win gold in the 200, 400 and 800-meter freestyle in a single Olympics. In all, it was the fifth medal for the 19-year-old as she was also a member of the USA's winning 800-meter freestyle relay team and silver-medal 400-meter freestyle relay.
DiRado won bronze in the 200-meter individual medley, silver in the 400-meter individual medley and joined Ledecky on the gold-medal winning 800 free relay.
On Friday, in what was likely the final race of her career, DiRado matched up with the overwhelming favorite, Hungary's Katinka Hosszu, who had already won three individual golds in Rio, including the 200 and 400-meter individual medleys over DiRado. However, the 21-time Stanford All-American edged in front of the Hungarian and held on for the win by six-hundreths of a second (2:05.99).
#Gold x 2#Silver #Bronze
— Stanford W. Swimming (@stanfordwswim) August 13, 2016
Congrats, @MayaDiRado! pic.twitter.com/Ad5Ln5vq4N
Just about 20 minutes later, Ledecky had the world in awe as she smashed her own world record by two seconds. Her winning time of 8:04.79 was 11 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Wow. Unreal, @katieledecky#WorldRecord #Gold#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/sadGBQ241a
— Stanford W. Swimming (@stanfordwswim) August 13, 2016
This was most likely the final races for DiRado and Ledecky in Rio as neither is expected to swim in the final relay event (400-meter medley) on Saturday. That would also mark the final race of DiRado's career as she previously announced she will retire following the Games.
A short while after those medals, rising junior Simone Manuel, who became the first African-American to win an individual swimming medal on Thursday, qualified for the finals of the 50-meter freestyle. She finished fourth in her heat and sixth overall in the semifinals with a time of 24.44.
Also for the Cardinal on Friday, rising senior Kassidy Cook advanced to Saturday's semifinals on the 3-meter springboard. She finished eighth in the preliminaries with a score of 327.75.
Stanford still has a few chances to add to its record-setting medal count. Manuel will swim for the podium in the 50 free and possibly the 400-meter medley relay on Saturday night, while Stanford diver Kassidy Cook has advanced to the semifinals on the 3-meter springboard.
For Stanford's complete Olympic schedule, medal count and more, go to GoStanford.com/Rio.