Katie Ledecky‘s first pitch at a Washington Nationals game Wednesday was an easy strike. Taking care of her medals, however, was a bit more time-consuming.
Near the mound before the pitch, it took Ledecky 25 seconds to take off each of her five 2016 Olympic medals from around her neck and hand them to reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper.
“We kind of planned that,” Ledecky said in a TV interview. “When I got to the park today, I proposed that idea. I guess Bryce offered. He wanted to be the one that held them.”
Ledecky, a native of Bethesda, Maryland, previously threw first pitches at Nationals Park after her first Olympic title in 2012, when she was 15 years old, and at the start of the 2014 playoffs.
Ledecky is leaving the D.C. area to begin classes at Stanford. She is expected to swim collegiately this season. The first meet is Sept. 25.
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Took @katieledecky awhile to get through the MEDAL detector. #Gold pic.twitter.com/bMmu4MbEv4
— MLB (@MLB) August 24, 2016