Olympic superstar Missy Franklin’s mysterious fall

SHE was one of the star’s of the London Games, winning four gold. But in a stunner today, the American finished last in the semis.

What has happened to Missy Franklin?

MISSY Franklin was a swimming star at the 2012 Olympics.

She couldn’t even make the final of the 200m freestyle in Rio.

Franklin endured another stunning disappointment today when she finished last in her semi-final heat with only the 13th-fastest time among 16 swimmers.

Franklin touched in 1 minute, 57.56 seconds, which was actually slower than her time in the afternoon preliminaries.

As a bubbly, 17-year-old high schooler, Franklin won four golds and a bronze at the London Games.

But she’s endured a mystifying loss of form since turning pro last summer, struggling just to qualify for two individual events and a relay at the US trials.

In 2012, Franklin competed in seven Olympic events.

Now, all she’s got left is the 200 backstroke and a likely spot on the 4x200 free relay team.

Ledecky and Sarah Sjostrom, both already world record-breakers at this Games, will duel for the 200m freestyle title in a hotly anticipated race tomorrow.

“It was a tough race, I knew she was going to go fast. It was about getting my lane for tomorrow,” said Ledecky, after finishing behind Sjostrom in today’s semi-finals.

Ledecky set a world record as she won the 400m freestyle and the 19-year-old American is gunning for the first 200m, 400m and 800m treble in 48 years.

Katie Ledecky, centre, competes in the 200m freestyle semi-final.

A TALE OF TWO PHENOMS

In stark contrast to Franklin, “pure happiness” radiated from Ledecky as she surged home to touch the wall in 3min 56.46sec, smashing her own 400m world record of 3:58.37 set on the Gold Coast in 2014.

Upon seeing her time, she grinned broadly having achieved a goal she’d set herself back in 2013 of lowering the record in the event to “3:56 or better”.

“To see 3:56 feels really good,” said Ledecky, who now owns the six fastest times ever in the event and is one of only two women even to break four minutes.

Italy’s Federica Pellegrini did it twice, in the era of the now-banned supersuits.

Ledecky, who has gone from strength to strength since her surprise win in the 800m free as a 15-year-old in London, has broken 12 world records since then.

Yesterday, she covered the last 50m in a blazing 28.92sec, leaving Jazz Carlin of Great Britain to collect silver in 4:01.23 — 4.77 seconds adrift. American Leah Smith took bronze in 4:01.92.

“I just let it all out,” said Ledecky, who came within a whisker of the world mark in the afternoon heats, clocking 3:58.71 — the second-fastest ever until her gold medal swim.

“It felt pretty identical to this morning, with a little more pop on the back half,” Ledecky said. “It just felt great.”

Smith, who was thrilled to finish less than two seconds behind Ledecky in the 400m free at the US trials, said she knew Ledecky was primed for something big.

“I’ve been training with her for the past month,” Smith said. “So I knew it was coming. It was only a matter of how fast she was going to go.”

If Ledecky wins her remaining events, she’ll become just the third US woman, after Amy Van Dyken in 1996 and Franklin in 2012 to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.

Ledecky anchored the 4x100 free team that set a US record and earned silver behind Australia on Sunday.

Originally published as Olympic superstar Missy Franklin’s mysterious fall