FINA World Championships Budapest 2022, as it happened: Day seven - Ledecky wins fifth straight 800 free title after Milak completes 100-200 fly double

Katie Ledecky moved into sole ownership of second place on the all-time gold medal list at the FINA World Championships with her 19th career title and fifth straight in the women's 800m freestyle on Friday (24 June 2022) in Budapest, Hungary.

The American dominated to win the race by over 10 seconds, moving past Ryan Lochte (18) on the all-time list to sit behind only Michael Phelps (26).

Earlier, Hungary's Kristof Milak thrilled the home fans by winning his second gold medal of the Championships and completing the men's 100 and 200 butterfly double.

There was also a triumphant return to the top step of the world podium for both Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, returning from elbow surgery, and Ben Proud of Great Britain – who picked up his first Worlds gold in five years.

And Australia had a double celebration as Kaylee McKeown added the women's 200m back world title to her Olympic crown before their mixed freestyle relay team broke the world record.

Check out the full results from the day's swimming finals.

In the day's only artistic swimming final, China clinched the women's team free title.

Olympics.com carried live updates the entire day from Budapest, which you can re-live as they happened below.

All times Central European Time (UTC/GMT +2 hours). Most recent updates first.

8:25pm - Sjostrom "very proud" of longevity

The final word tonight goes to Sarah Sjostrom, who's back on the top step of the podium after her elbow injury and subsequent surgery.

Remarkably, the Swede said in her post-race press conference that she still did not feel 100% in her injured arm.

"I still feel a little bit of pain, I still have the metal plates and the screws inside my arm so it still messing up mobility a little bit. I need to work on it all the time, I lose muscle mass very quickly. I’m not really bothered by it all the time, I feel better in my bad arm than my good arm, I don’t know why. It’s almost like, I get a perfect stroke when I don’t have amazing mobility. I don’t know why.”

Sjostrom – who has been swimming at the top level since the late-noughties – also spoke about her longevity in the pool.

"It feels unreal that I’ve been able to stay on this level for so long. I won my first medal in 2009 when Michael Phelps was still swimming at that time, I was looking up to him. It feels amazing to still be around and to still win the medals. I’ve learnt that’s not something I can take for granted, so I’m very proud of it.

"Of course, I see Paris (2024 Olympic Games) as one of my main goals, but my plan, me and my coach plan is one competition at a time. Maybe have a plan as far as Paris, but I’m taking it one competition at a time."

8:07pm - Ledecky "still excited" about swimming

Katie Ledecky picks up the gold medal – her fifth in a row in this event – for her win in the women's 800m freestyle; her 19th career Worlds gold.

This is what she had to say earlier in the mixed zone:

"It’s just year after year of hard work. I think back to London and I made it the goal to not be a one-hit wonder, and here we are 10 years later. I’m really proud of that and still excited for the future.

"I’m happy with (the time), I kind of thought I’d be (8:0)6 or 7, but to be 8.0 that’s right there, and fastest I’ve been for a couple of years, so a really good end to a great week.

"There are a couple of things that are different (from last season). I’ve been training with men, Bobby (Finke), Kieran (Smith) and Trey (Freeman), who are all here, I try to keep up as much as I can. They push me and I hope they feel that they’ve benefited from me being there, just a lot of work on my stroke and my rhythm and I think it’s paying off.

"I think this is just the start, which is tremendously exciting for me."

7:57pm - MEDAL MOMENT - Australia break world record in mixed freestyle relay

The evening's last final is the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.

Brazil, Italy, Australia, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Great Britain, and China from lanes 1 through 8.

The two men swim the opening legs and the women the third and anchor legs.

USA's world record is 3:19.40.

A quick reaction for Brazil up in lane 1 but USA's Ryan Held has hit the front quickly as he turns in the lead but this is a pretty even race at 100.

The Americans lead from Canada and Australia but the gap between those three teams is under two tenths.

USA, Australia, Canada still at 150 but Kyle Chalmers has put the Aussies in the lead at halfway! The lead is over half a second for Madi Wilson.

The Americans have Torri Huske on this leg. Wilson is keeping Australia up with the world record split.

Wilson hands over the lead to the individual 100 champion Mollie O'Callaghan. USA have Claire Curzan on this anchor leg; Canada have Penny Oleksiak.

It's between these three teams and the world record is very much under threat.

O'Callaghan has a good lead now and Australia win gold in world record time 3:19.38!

Oleksiak overhauls Curzan as Canada take silver and USA bronze.

"It's insane… I think we were always going to be hard to beat," Chalmers says.

"To get gold is amazing, but I didn't expect the world record at all," Wilson adds.

7:40pm - MEDAL MOMENT - Ledecky wins 800 for fifth time running

This is a massive, massive win.

Katie Ledecky continues her distance dominance as she kicks on the final leg of the race.

The American wins gold in 8:08.04 – and there's a long wait for the silver medallist.

It's a close-run thing, too – Melverton in lane 1 barely hangs on to out-touch Simona Quadarella for silver.

The winning margin? 10.73 seconds. And only 0.23 between Melverton and Quadarella.

"It's always hard, you want it to hurt, you want it to feel like that especially at the end of the week. I'm excited for that result," Ledecky says.

Ledecky's 19th World Championships gold takes her past Ryan Lochte for second all-time.

7:36pm - Ledecky untouchable

At the halfway mark, Ledecky is completely out of sight. She is five seconds clear of Kiah Melverton in lane 1.

7:33pm - Pallister scratched

You'll have noticed there's no Lani Pallister of Australia in this final, despite qualifying second-fastest.

She unfortunately tested positive for Covid after yesterday's heats and has withdrawn from the Championships.

Back in the race, Ledecky is under her world record split at 200m.

7:31pm - Ledecky favourite in 800

The evening's penultimate final is the women's 800m freestyle final.

Katie Ledecky is the unsurprising favourite to win an 19th World Championships title.

The swimmers from lanes 1 through 8 are Kiah Melverton, Eve Thomas, Li Bingjie, Ledecky, Leah Smith, Isabel Gose, Simona Quadarella, and Viviane Jungblut.

Ledecky is the world record holder at 8:04.79. She's looking to win the event for a fifth consecutive time.

7:26pm - Men's 50 backstroke finalists

We've also had the men's 50 back semis – the last set of semi-finals of these Championships (there are three sets of heats tomorrow morning, directly qualifying to finals).

Here are the qualifiers: Justin Ress, Hunter Armstrong, Apostolos Christou, Thomas Ceccon, Ksawery Masiuk, Robert Glinta, Isaac Cooper, Ole Braunschweig.

7:23pm - McKeown pays tribute to dad

We've just been hearing from Australia's 200m back world champion Kaylee McKeown in the mixed zone after she added the world title to her Olympic crown.

She spoke about Regan Smith's world record, set in the 2019 World Championships semi-final.

“That world record is unbelievable, I was there in that race when she broke it, not once but twice. Real testament to her and how good as an athlete she is. I do my very best to try and tackle that, it’s not only me thats after that world record, but all the other backstrokers in the world. It’s what we swim for.”

McKeown also dedicated her medal to her late father, who died in summer 2020.

“You’ll quite often see me before my warm up, I’ll sit on the edge of the pool and have a little a moment for myself. I believe in my little way that he is there every step of the way, so that’s my thank you.

“To come away with a gold medal is pretty spectacular, I wasn’t expecting to be here at the beginning of the year, so to come out with two individual podium swims is amazing, it’s a real testament to (coach) Michael Bohl for being able to pick me up in six months time and try to figure me out as an athlete. Sometimes that takes five or six years, but he’s done it in six months. I’m really excited to see what happens in two years time (at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games).”

7:06pm - Ben Proud picks up gold medal

God Save the Queen rings out in the Duna Arena for Great Britain's Ben Proud, who has won his second career World gold medal after clinching gold tonight in the men's 50m free.

It was an emotional win for the Brit, after he top-qualified for the 50 fly final but missed out on the medals.

"Going in lane 4 and coming seventh, I made a big mistake in that, but it fired me up for today and I’m much happier to be going home as 50 freestyle word champion,” he said in the mixed zone.

6:59pm - MEDAL MOMENT - Kaylee McKeown pips Bacon to gold at wall

Straight into the next final, the women's 200m back.

In lane 8, Katalin Burian of Hungary; in lane 1, Dora Molnar of Hungary; in lane 7, Kylie Masse of Canada; in lane 2, Peng Xuwei of China; in lane 6, Marghertia Panziera of Italy; in lane 3, Rhyan White of USA; in lane 5, Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown of Australia; and in lane 4, Phoebe Bacon of USA.

McKeown starts well and turns in the lead from Bacon and Masse at 50m, but Bacon has edged ahead on the second length with Masse and White nearly level now as well.

Bacon has opened up nearly half a body length at halfway as they go down the third lap of the pool. McKeown looks to be closing the lead pretty quickly and Bacon's lead is 0.33 seconds at the last turn.

It's a good turn from the American but here comes the charge from McKeown. Can the American hold on? The Aussie is quicker!

Gold for Kaylee McKeown in 2:05.08! Silver to Bacon and bronze to White.

Just 0.04 seconds in it.

"I was really nervous coming in tonight off the back of last year. At the start this year I wasn't sure if I would be doing the World Championships and to be here is amazing," McKeown says.

6:50pm - MEDAL MOMENT - Kristof Milak clinches 100-200 fly double

Well, it's time. This is what the crowd have come for.

The men's 100m butterfly final. No Caeleb Dressel, remember, but they're here for Kristof Milak. A huge cheer as the event is announced.

In lane 8, Michael Andrew of the USA; in lane 1, Matt Temple of Australia; in lane 7, Jakub Majerski of Poland; in lane 2, Simon Bucher of Austria; in lane 6, Noe Ponti of Switzerland; in lane 3, Josh Liendo Edwards of Canada; in lane 5, Mizunuma Naoki of Japan; and in lane 4, Kristof Milak of Hungary – they have gone wild in the arena.

Milak is the 200m world champ and world record holder. Can he take Caeleb Dressel's 100 record too? That stands at 49.45. The Championship record is 49.50.

They're off to huge roars. Bucher had the best reaction time off the blocks but Milak is ahead at the turn, but only just, from Andrew.

They turn for the second 50 and Milak makes his move. He's about half a body length clear. Opens it up to a full body length. Milak in 50.14 is the world champion, with Mizunuma taking silver and Liendo Edwards bronze.

"I made history but I'm not impressed with my time! It's still enough for the gold medal. I'm not impressed (with my time), it's not under 50, but it's still a gold medal."

6:36pm - King scrapes through

The women's 200m breaststroke world champ, Lilly King, barely scrapes through to the 50m final as the eighth and final qualifier.

Joining her are Benedetta Pilato, the 100m world champ; Ruta Meilutyte; Lara van Niekerk; Tang Qianting – whose 30.10 was a new Asian record –; Eneli Jefimova; Jhennifer Conceicao; and Anna Elendt.

6:25pm - Qualifiers for women's 50 free

The two semi-finals for the women's 50 free went out quickly, and we now have our eight finallists for tomorrow's race.

They are Katarzyna Wasick, Sarah Sjostrom, Meg Harris, Erika Brown, Anna Hopkin, Zhang Yufei, Torri Huske, and Julie Kepp Jensen.

6:14pm - MEDAL MOMENT - Proud wins GB's first gold of Worlds

Moving straight on to the men's 50m freestyle final.

In lane 8, Maxime Grousset of France; in lane 1, Szebasztian Szabo of Hungary; in lane 7, Kristian Gkolomeev of Greece; in lane 2, Michael Andrew of USA; in lane 6, Lewis Burras of Great Britain; in lane 3, Josh Liendo Edwards of Canada; in lane 5, Lorenzo Zazzeri of Italy; and in lane 4, Ben Proud of Great Britain.

Cesar Cielo Filho holds the world record at 20.91.

They're off and the fastest reaction off the blocks was Proud, who has already soared out in lane four. Up in 1 Szabo is strong, as it Andrew in 2. Proud is fading a bit but Ben Proud of Great Britain wins gold.

Michael Andrew takes silver and Grousset bronze. 21.32 the winning time.

"I'm thrilled. At the start of the week if you said I was going to win this, I wouldn't have believed you," Proud says. "Sprinting is quite a lot of work so I'm going to be tired in two minutes!

"My first gold was five years ago in the same pool (in the 50 fly in 2017) and to be racing in Budapest again, great place, great fans, and I'm really chuffed."

6:06pm - MEDAL MOMENT - Sarah Sjostrom back on top

Tonight's first final is the women's 50m butterfly.

In lane 8, Maaike de Waard of Netherlands; in lane 1, Claire Curzan of USA; in lane 7, Marie Wattel of France; in lane 2, Zhang Yufei of China; in lane 6, Farida Osman of Egypt; in lane 3, Melanie Henique of France; in lane 5, Torri Huske of USA; and in lane 4, Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden.

Sjostrom holds the world record at 24.43, set in 2014. She also set the Championship record of 24.60 in this very pool in 2017.

They're off with a good start for the Frenchwoman Henique, but Sjostrom has already pulled just ahead of the field. In lane 6 Osman is pushing hard too.

Sarah Sjostrom wins gold! 24.95.

Henique and Zhang complete the podium.

"I'm so happy to be here in Budapest and it's amazing to win another gold," Sjostrom says. "I have a lot of fans in the stands. I'm excited now, I'm going to get ready for the 50 (freestyle semis) and I'm sure the fans will cheer again."

Osman was fourth in a new African record 25.38.

5:55pm - Busy night of finals

Tonight's second-to-last evening of finals in the pool will be a busy one.

We have no fewer than six finals, featuring Kristof Milak (men's 100 fly) and Katie Ledecky (women's 800 free) in action.

• Women's 50m butterfly final
• Men's 50m freestyle final
• Women's 50m freestyle semi-finals
• Women's 50m breaststroke semi-finals
• Men's 100m butterfly final
• Women's 200m backstroke final
• Men's 50m backstroke semi-finals
• Women's 800m freestyle final
• Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay final

5:23pm - MEDAL MOMENT - China win gold

It's official – neither France nor Spain were able to crack the podium spots.

China's 96.700 is enough to take gold.

China, Ukraine, and Japan are the medallists.

5:10pm - China unstoppable

Top qualifiers China have been one of the strongest teams here this week and they have again gone top of the standings in this team free final.

They score 96.7000, ahead of Ukraine and Japan. Just France and Spain let to compete.

4:35pm - Alvarez sits out

The United States of America are now in the pool, without Anita Alvarez, who's sitting out.

While she did return to practise with the team ahead of this final, she has not made the final cut to compete.

4:00pm - Welcome back!

It's time for the women's team free final in artistic swimming.

Expect some great routines and choreography, and even some drama along the way as the teams wait for their scores.

The top qualifiers were China and Ukraine.

1:30pm - Will we see Anita Alvarez today?

Team USA Artistic Swimming say that Anita Alvarez, who passed out at the end of her solo free program on Wednesday and had to be rescued by coach Andrea Fuentes, has recovered well from the incident.

Her participation in today's team free final was due to be cleared by doctors, but she is listed on the FINA start list as of now.

12:35pm - Results from mixed duet free prelim

We also had the last preliminary/qualifying round action in artistic swimming this morning, with the mixed duet free prelims.

The mixed duet tech champions, Giorgio Minisini and Lucrezia Ruggiero of Italy, unsurprisingly topped the field again in the free on 90.5000 points.

Minisini is an old hand at these World Champs now and will look to add to his medal haul in tomorrow's final.

With the top 12 progressing, it means that South Africa were unlucky number 13 of the 13 pairs missing out.

11:55 am - Today's water polo programme

11:45 am - USA benefitting from Anthony Nesty effect

After winning Suriname's first (and to this day only) Olympic gold medal in the men's 100 butterfly at Seoul 1988, Anthony Nesty experienced similar levels of success as the University of Florida head coach.

Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky both transferred to his training group after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which shows just how respected he is.

In 2022, he was appointed head coach for the USA men's team at the 2022 FINA World Championships, meaning he would become the first black head coach for the United States at a world championships.

It was an inspired appointment, with his men delivering six gold medals so far. It would likely have been more had Dressel not pulled out of the event on medical grounds after winning the men's 50 butterfly title.

Olympics.com caught up with Nesty before the World Championships to find out why his coaching philosophy revolves around 'body, mind and soul', how he deals with expectation, and how his Olympic gold helped to unify a nation. You can watch that below now.

11:20 am - Wellbrock lays down distance marker

Marathon swimming Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock laid down a marker of intent in the men's 1500 freestyle heats, securing the fastest time.

The German clocked 14:50.12, to finish clear of his Ukrainian training partner, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist, Mykhailo Romanchuk.

Third place overall went to reigning Olympic champion Bobby Finke of the USA, while Rio 2016 Olympic champion Gregorio Paltrinieri also qualifies.

With Brazilian Guilherme Costa and Germany's Lukas Martens also making the grade, expect a fiercely competitive final tomorrow evening.

And that breathless race concludes the morning's swimming action. The finals being at 18:00.

10:15 am - USA mixed freestyle relay team power through

The USA has won four of the five relay events so far at the 2022 FINA World Championships (a bronze medal in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay as the exception) and it looks like they could win another this evening.

Ryan Held, Drew Kibler, Erika Brown and Kate Douglass put on a powerful display to see the USA qualify for the 4x100 mixed freestyle relay finals as the No.1 seeds.

They clocked 3:24.48 to finish almost a second quicker than second-placed Canada, while Heat 3 winners Australia finished third.

This evening's eight finalists (in order of the fastest heat finish): USA, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain, Brazil, and China.

9:55 am - Van Niekerk breaks African record

South Africa knows how to produce breaststroke stars.

Olympic gold medallist over 200m Tatjana Schoenmaker skipped these championships in order to focus on the Commonwealth Games, but Lara van Niekerk has stepped up to win the women's 50 breaststroke heats with a new African record of 29.77.

Newly-crowned 100 breaststroke world champ Benedetta Pilato sealed second +0.03 back, while Estonia's Eneli Jefimova finished third.

They'll be joined in this evening's semi finals by versatile Lilly King after she took the 200m title last night.

Reigning 100m short course world champion Tang Qianting of China and Sweden's Sophie Hansson also progress.

9:40 am - Ress shocks stacked backstroke field

There was a bit of a shock in the men's 50 backstroke heats, where USA's Justin Ress took top spot.

The 6-foot-5 American, who helped his nation win 4x100 freestyle relay gold earlier this week, touched home in 24.24.

Germany's Ole Braunschweig came first in a star-studded final heat to progress in second overall, with 100 backstroke world record holder Thomas Ceccon third.

Men's 50 backstroke world record holder Hunter Armstrong powered through, and looked like he had some left to spare. Expect a huge performance from him in this evening's semis.

Australia's Isaac Cooper, Mewen Tomac of France and Brazilian Guilherme Basseto will also progress.

9:15 am - Super Sarah Sjostrom!

Sarah Sjostrom is in the women's 50 fly final this evening, but was in no mood to conserve energy in the 50 freestyle heats this morning!

The Swede, who won Olympic silver in this event at Tokyo 2020 months after breaking her elbow, secured the fastest time overall in 24.40.

Second place went to Katarzyna Wasick of Poland, with Australia's Meg Marris in third.

Also qualifying for this evening's semi-finals are USA's Erika Brown, Chinese 200 fly Olympic champion Zhang Yufei, Britain's Anna Hopkin and 100 fly world champion Torri Huske of USA.

Sjostrom will swim in three races today, and may well add to her unbelievable stats below.

8:42 am - In case you missed it...

Round 2 results in men's water polo last night, where home heroes Hungary gave their fans plenty to cheer:

Group A

Montenegro 10 - 9 Georgia

Hungary 20 - 6 Brazil

Group B

Croatia 13 - 9 Germany

Greece 18 - 7 Japan

Group C

Spain 28 - 2 South Africa

Italy v Canada - postponed

Group D

Serbia 6 - 5 Australia

USA 17 - 4 Kazakhstan

8:30 am - Today's programme

Good morning and welcome back to Olympics.com's FINA World Championships 2022 live blog! Just two days of swimming action are left – can you believe it?

It's going to be a fast and furious morning of prelims with the women's 50 freestyle kicking the day off. Could Olympic silver medallist from Tokyo Sarah Sjostrom go one better in Budapest? Keep you eye out also for 200 butterfly Olympic champion Zhang Yufei who is improving with every race at these championships.

Sjostrom will need to conserve some energy for this evening's 50 butterfly final, where she is the No. 1 seed.

Recently-crowned men's 100 back world champion Thomas Ceccon will be hoping to put down a statement of intent in the 50 back prelims, while world record holder Hunter Armstrong will be hoping to win his first world title.

Keep an eye out for double Olympic gold medallist Bobby Finke, who will hope to win his second title in Budapest in the men's 1500m. The American's trademark fast finishes will be sure to keep everyone excited in those prelims.

It would take seismic upset to beat Katie Ledecky in the women's 800 freestyle finals, while Australia's reigning Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown will be hoping to land her first world title in the women's 200 backstroke.

Here's today's swimming schedule:

Morning session – heats

• Women's 50m freestyle
• Men's 50m backstroke
• Women's 50m breaststroke
• Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay
• Men's 1500m freestyle

Evening session – semi-finals and finals

• Women's 50m butterfly final
• Men's 50m freestyle final
• Women's 50m freestyle semi-finals
• Women's 50m breaststroke semi-finals
• Men's 100m butterfly final
• Women's 200m backstroke final
• Men's 50m backstroke semi-finals
• Women's 800m freestyle final
• Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay final