Olympic athlete Katie Ledecky reveals battle with secret health condition after struggles with performance
Though she might appear to awe-inspired spectators in impeccable physical condition, Olympic athlete Katie Ledecky has revealed in a new book that she's far from invincible.
In fact, behind the scenes of her illustrious double-gold medal victory in Paris, the Team USA swimmer has been battling a devastating health diagnosis, which she says has completely altered the way she competes internationally.
Who is Katie Ledecky, and what has she achieved so far?
Despite having made her Olympic debut in 2012 London aged just 15, Washington DC-born Ledecky has gone on to become the most decorated female swimmer in history.
She is also the fifth most titled Olympian of all time, having collected a staggering nine gold medals.
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The now 27-year-old also has 21 world championship gold medals under her belt, as well as world record times in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle.
I know, that's quite a CV she's accumulated.
That isn't to say that Ledecky's sporting run has always been plain sailing.
In fact, the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient's life was turned totally upside down back in 2015, when she was dealt a brutal blow to her health.
How did Katie Ledecky's health worries begin?
That year, the athlete had candidly picked up five gold medals and set three world records at the World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, when she and her teammates sat down for their final meal together.
Minutes into the celebratory banquet, however, Ledecky began feeling 'extremely hot and lightheaded', as per a reflection in her best-selling memoir, Just Add Water: My Swimming Life.
Having exerted herself at the sporting tournament, however, the swimmer put her ailing health down to general exhaustion.
It wasn't until she appeared at the Olympic Games in Rio the following year that she became certain something was wrong.
"It was…weird," she wrote. "I was swimming okay. But I was super inconsistent. I would have a couple of good practices, and then I would have a day or two when I had absolutely no energy.
"Some days I couldn’t walk around without dizziness. I remember wrapping practice and struggling to get back to the locker room.
"Every swimmer has peaks and valleys in training, but to be so strung out?"
After her former coach Bruce Gemmell recommended she see a specialist over her health worries, she was tragically diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.
What is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome?
Ledecky's condition is often abbreviated to PoTS. The condition sees patients' heart rates increase very quickly after getting up from sitting or lying down.
Ledecky explained in her book: "Because I have PoTS, I pool blood in the vessels below my heart when I stand.
"My body then releases extra norepinephrine or epinephrine, which adds additional stressors on my heart, making it beat faster. Which, in turn, bring on dizziness, fainting and exhaustion."
According to the NHS website, the condition's most common symptoms include dizziness or light-headedness, fainting or almost fainting, heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, and shaking and sweating.
How did Ledecky treat her condition?
In some cases, PoTS can be treated by patients making changes to their lifestyles - which thankfully saved Ledecky's competitive career.
"The good news was that I could treat my POTS nutritionally," she penned. "I needed to up my sodium intake and increase my hydration.
"Studies also show that reclined aerobic exercise, such as swimming and strengthening your core can provide relief. Which is kind of funny.
"What are the odds that the prescriptive exercise for my particular disease would be…more swimming?"
Rhianna Benson