By: Grace Lee

Before winning the gold medal in the women’s 400 gold-meter freestyle Saturday in Budapest, Katie Ledecky did not intend to focus on her rivals. Instead, she chose a strategy that would benefit her much more, focusing on herself and things mattered to her the most.

“I wanted to push to the point of pain tonight,” Ledecky told reporters. To her, it did not matter whether she reached a certain time goal or won any medals; to her the most important factor was self-improvement.

“I’m just always trying to improve.” she said. We kind of set out this year without setting any time goals, just trying to improve each meet, and so far I’ve done that, so that’s pretty good.”

Earning silver with a time of 3:59.39, Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh was a strong competitor, becoming the fourth female in history to swim the event in under four minutes.

“I was a little nervous. McIntosh hung in there the whole time, so she definitely pushed me a lot,” Ledecky said.

With just 100 meters left, Ledecky kicked furiously until finally finishing first with a time of 3 minutes and 58.15 seconds, disappointing some who wanted to see her reclaim the world record she lost last month to Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus. Ledecky’s win was celebrated worldwide by her many devoted fans.