Katie Ledecky Faces Late Scare From Sarah Sjöström, Holds On For Gold

Katie Ledecky is a wizard, but she usually needs some time to get her wand going. The 19-year-old swimming superstar is the world-record holder in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle (and the 1,500 but that's not an Olympic event). Ledecky won 800 freestyle gold in 2012 and she won 400 freestyle gold Sunday in Rio.

But Ledecky also qualified first at the U.S. Trials for the 200 freestyle and gave it a go in the Olympic final Tuesday. Ledecky won gold in the 200 at the 2015 world championships, but of her three individual events in Rio, the 200 was the one in which she was expected to be her most vulnerable.

Sarah Sjöström of Sweden almost exploited Ledecky's weakness. Although Ledecky led most of the way, Sjöström nearly caught her on the final stroke.

Ledecky hung on. This hardware didn't come as easy as her 400 gold medal, which Ledecky won by nearly five seconds at a world record-setting pace, but it counts..

Ledecky, who also has a 2016 silver in the 4x100 freestyle relay, has one final individual event in the 800, arguably her best, as she will try to repeat in the final Friday.

On Tuesday, she and a guy named Michael Phelps that she met ten years ago, once again reminded the world of their greatness.

More Olympics:
-- 7 Sports You Probably Don't Know Are Olympic Events
-- Best U.S. Olympic Athletes To Follow On Instagram
-- Lilly King And America Celebrate 'Clean' Gold Medal

-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.