Originally published by Julian Linden of News.com.au
16.08.2026
Australia’s new swim sensation Lani Pallister pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history when she handed US legend Katie Ledecky her first international defeat over the 800m freestyle.
While Ariarne Titmus had the wood on Ledecky over 400m – winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 2021 and 2024 – no one had beaten the US GOAT over 16 laps since Ledecky burst on to the world stage as a 15-year-old at the 2012 London Olympics – more than 5000 days ago.
Considered impossible to beat over 800m, Ledecky had won a record four successive Olympic titles and seven world titles over the gruelling distance before Pallister ended her decade-and-a-half streak on the last day of the Pan Pacific Championships in southern California.
Leading from start to finish, Pallister never gave Ledecky a look-in as she stormed to the gold in 8:06.10.
The American took the silver, 1.16 seconds behind the 24-year-old Queenslander.
“Katie’s such a dominant force,” Pallister told the stunned crowd at the William Woollett Jr Aquatics Centre in Irvine. “Without her, we wouldn’t have women’s distance in the place we’re in.
“To be part of that … it’s pretty much all because we get to chase Katie.”
Pallister’s win over Ledecky will send shockwaves through world swimming.
With two years to go until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the Australian looks set to ruin America’s plans for the ultimate pool party.
With the swimming competition being moved to the second week so it can be held inside SoFi Stadium, the home of the LA Rams and LA Chargers NFL teams, Olympic organisers have scheduled the women’s 800m freestyle final as the last individual event of the Games.
The idea was that the 800m would be the crowning moment for Ledecky because no swimmer, not even Michael Phelps, has won the same event five times.
World Aquatics even changed the program so that Ledecky’s biggest rival, Summer McIntosh, would have to ditch the 800m because it was too close to the 200m butterfly, her favourite event.
What officials hadn’t taken into account was Pallister’s rapid improvement after her previous coach Michael Bohl moved to China, prompting her to join Dean Boxall, the mastermind behind Titmus’s inspiring wins over Ledecky.
Pallister has improved at a rapid rate of knots since joining Boxall.
She has carved more than nine seconds off her best time for the 800m and 1.5 seconds off her 400m personal best.
