RIO DE JANEIRO _ Katie Ledecky became the first woman to sweep the 200, 400, and 800 meter freestyle events in one Olympic Games since 1968 when she won the 800 gold medal in a world record-shattering race at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium Friday night.
Ledecky finished in 8 minutes, 4.79 seconds, taking nearly two seconds off the previous world record (8:06.68) she set in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Singapore's Joseph Schooling upset Michael Phelps' bid for a potentially final Olympic individual gold medal, winning the 100-meter butterfly.
Schooling touched the wall in an Olympic and Asian record 50.39 seconds, with Phelps never really challenging him.
Phelps ended in a three-way time for the silver medal with Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary at 51.14.
Phelps is expected to compete in the 4x100 medley relay Saturday, the final day of the swimming competition.
Later Friday, Anthony Ervin recaptured the Olympic 50-meter freestyle title he first won 16 years ago in Sydney.
The Los Angeles native edged France's Florent Manadou by a hundredth of a second _ 21.40 to 21.41 _ for the gold medal.
Nathan Adrian of the U.S. wasn't far behind in third at 21.49.
Ervin's first 50 gold medal was even closer. He tied U.S. teammate Gary Hall, Jr. in Sydney.
