World Championships, Day 7 Finals: Simona Quadarella Nabs 800 Free Gold at Finish; First Non-Ledecky Titlist Since 2011

Simona Quadarella of Italy competes in the 800m Freestyle Women Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 29th, 2023.

World Championships, Day 7 Finals: Simona Quadarella Nabs 800 Free Gold at Finish; First Non-Ledecky Titlist Since 2011

For almost the entirety of the 800-meter freestyle, Italian Simona Quadarella did not lead the final at the World Championships in Doha. But she was the one who stopped the clock first.

Behind a last-lap surge and delivering final-moment drama, Quadarella picked up the gold medal in the 800 freestyle in a time of 8:17.44. That swim edged the 8:17.53 performance of Germany’s Isabel Gose, who was in front of the field from the 450-meter mark until Quadarella clipped her at the finish. The bronze medal was earned by New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather, who turned in a time of 8:22.26.

Earlier in the week, Quadarella put together a dominant showing in the 1500 freestyle, winning that distance event by almost 10 seconds. This time, she had to work until the end. Sitting in second place beginning at the 500-meter mark, Quadarella stayed right with Gose as the women churned through their back-half laps. On the final length, Quadarella produced a split of 29.21, with Gose going 29.38. That quicker close was enough to give the Italian the triumph.

With Quadarella’s win, the six-edition reign of Katie Ledecky as world champion of the event officially came to an end. Ledecky won gold medals in the 800 freestyle at the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023 World Champs, but decided – like many others – to skip this version of the meet to focus on her preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris.

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