RIO DE JANEIRO — Among Katie Ledecky's many gifts is one that might sound a little weird on first take.
"I mean this in a positive way, but she doesn't care," said Bruce Gemmell, her coach at the Nation's Capital Swim Club. "She doesn't care that it's the Olympics anymore than she cares that it's a championship meet at home, anymore than she cares that it's her high school championship. She gets excited about all of it."
Gemmell believes that even temperament, which becomes apparent anytime the 19-year-old speaks, is essential to her numbing consistency in the biggest events.
"I think that absolutely allows her to compete at the level she does and do it so consistently," he said. "The one who might get caught up in it more might be able to rise to the occasion here and there. But to do it with her consistency, it probably comes from that."
The main show in Rio today will be the Opening Ceremony, which Ledecky will not attend. But she'll be on center stage soon enough, possibly in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay on Saturday evening and definitely in the 400-meter freestyle on Sunday.
The 400 will likely give the world its first glimpse of Ledecky's almost absurd dominance. She burst on the scene by winning a gold medal in the 800 freestyle in 2012, when she was a largely unknown 15-year-old. But Ledecky has become something else entirely in the four years since — the world's most dominant and dependable swimmer.
Unlike Michael Phelps, she can still walk through the Olympic Village without being overwhelmed by attention.
But with the grandest showcase of her life about to begin, that might not last much longer.