With eight out of nine of her Olympic gold medals coming from individual events, Katie Ledecky, is touted as one of the greatest mid-distance female swimmers of all time.
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, she won three medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze) to become the most decorated female Olympic swimmer and the most decorated U.S. female athlete in Olympic history with 14 medals.
London 2012 Olympics:
Katie Ledecky reacts after winning gold in the women’s 800m freestyle final at the London 2012 Olympic Games. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
At 15, she was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic swimming team. In the 800m freestyle final, Ledecky stunned the audience and critics alike by clinching gold, as the silver medallist Mireia Belmonte of Spain followed more than four seconds later. The American clocked a time of 8:14.63, the then second-fastest effort of all time and a new American record. At the 750-meter mark, Ledecky was 3.42 seconds ahead of Belmonte, and 0.31 seconds under the world record pace. Much to her disappointment, Ledecky had just missed the world record by 0.53 seconds.
Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics:
Ledecky became the sole individual to triumph in four distinct freestyle swimming distances within a single Olympic competition. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Ledecky clinched gold medals in four events: 200m, 400m, 800m freestyle, and 4 × 200m freestyle relay—securing her position in history as the sole individual to triumph in four distinct freestyle swimming distances within a single Olympic competition.
Displaying dominance, Ledecky seized four gold medals and one silver in the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay. Additionally, she established world records in the 400m and 800m freestyle events (clocking 3: 56.46 and 8:4.79, respectively). Notably, her performance in the 800m freestyle final saw Ledecky shaving nearly two seconds off the previous record time, finishing more than 11 seconds ahead of her closest rival.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics:
Ledecky secured victories in the 800m and 1,500m freestyle events, marking the inaugural inclusion of the latter in the Olympic program for women. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Ledecky secured victories in the 800m and 1,500m freestyle events, marking the inaugural inclusion of the latter in the Olympic program for women. Nonetheless, her streak encountered a setback in the 400m freestyle, where she experienced her initial defeat in an individual race at the Games, winning silver. Additionally, she earned a silver medal in the 4 × 200m freestyle relay.
Despite relinquishing her 400m title to Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, Ledecky reclaimed her 800m freestyle crown and etched her name as the premier women’s 1,500m freestyle Olympic victor. Accompanied by another relay silver in Tokyo, she ascended as the most decorated American female athlete across consecutive Olympic Games and the most adorned female individual swimmer in history.
Paris 2024 Olympics:
Katie Ledecky, of the United States, poses with her gold medal after winning the women’s 1500-meter freestyle final at the 2024 Summer Olympics. | Photo Credit: AP
Katie Ledecky became the most decorated female Olympic swimmer of all time but the US great had to settle for silver as Australia took the 4x200 metres freestyle relay gold at the Paris Games.
Prior to this, Ledecky blitzed the field to retain her 1,500 metres freestyle title securing a record-equalling eighth gold medal in the sport.
World record holder Ledecky blew away the field in the gruelling, 30-lap race at La Defense Arena, touching the wall in an Olympic record 15.30.02, more than 10 seconds ahead of France’s silver medallist Anastasiia Kirpichnikova.
However, in the 400m freestyle event, she could only settle for bronze as Ariarne Titmus, the Australian star known as “Terminator,” handed Ledecky a second straight Olympic defeat in an event the American won at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
She won her record-extending 14th medal in her pet event, the 800m freestyle pipping Ariarne Titmus and compatriot Paige Madden. With this she became the sole female swimmer to win four gold medals in a single event in consecutive Olympic Games and second swimmer after Michael Phelps to achieve this feat.
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