For Katie Ledecky, the long and short of it is first place in both the 1,500 and 200 freestyle

To underscore the gravity of the moment, Janet Evans, the country’s most celebrated distance swimmer, stepped up to Ledecky and draped the medal around the 24-year-old’s neck. There could be no better handoff. Evans held the 1,500-meter record from 1988 to 2007, but she never had the opportunity to race the distance at an Olympics. For years, men raced the 1,500 at the Olympics, but 800 meters was the longest distance available to women.