Most kids at age 15 are hanging out with their friends, going to the movies, and being a teenager. For Katie Ledecky, she was a first-time Olympian in London in 2012. Ledecky went on to win the first of her three consecutive gold medals in the 800-meter freestyle.
Rio 2016
Next, in the 2016 Games in Rio, she outdid herself. All in all, she won five medals: (medal won in parentheses)
- 200-meter freestyle (Gold)
- 400-meter freestyle (Gold)
- 800-meter freestyle (Gold)
- 4×200-meter freestyle (Gold)
- 4×100-meter freestyle (Silver)
In fact, her five medals in those Rio Games were second to the great Natalie Coughlin as the most for an American woman in a single Olympics. In the 2008 Beijing Games, Coughlin won six medals (one gold, two silver, three bronze). Heading into Tokyo, she certainly was ready to swim her place into history.
Tokyo 2020
Firstly, she finished 5th in the 200-meter freestyle final as Australia’s Ariarne Titmus took home the gold. Afterward, Ledecky finished second to, you guessed it, Titmus in the 400-meter freestyle. Final. Thirdly, we would see arguably one of the best races in the entire Olympic swimming program.
In the 800-meter freestyle final, it was Ledecky vs. Titmus swimming stroke for stroke throughout the race. When it was all said and done, Ledecky won gold for the third straight Olympics. She finished with a time of 8:12.57, touching the wall 1.26 ahead of the runner-up Titmus.
All things considered, Titmus and her time of 8:13.83 was outstanding. Nonetheless, Ledecky is still the holder of the top 23 times ever in the 800-meter freestyle:
Ariarne Titmus broke the 13-year-old 800m free world record in the non-Katie Ledecky division for silver. Rebecca Adlington held it from her 2008 Olympic title. Titmus is now the second-fastest swimmer in history, but Ledecky has the top 23 times ever. pic.twitter.com/i9a8ZJBA7E
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) July 31, 2021
In a history-making race, Ledecky won gold in the first-ever women’s 1500-meter race in the Olympics. She had a time of 15:37.34. Finally, Ledecky and her teammates, Allison Schmitt, Katie McLaughlin, and Paige Madden, took home silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay final for the USA.
China broke the world and Olympic record with a time of 7:40.33. In total, Ledecky won two gold and two silver while in the Tokyo Aquatics Center.
History
The victory in the 800-meter freestyle gave Ledecky six individual gold medals in her Olympics career, setting a women’s record. Moreover, it snapped a tie with Hungary’s Krisztina Egerszegi, who swam in the 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympics.
Overall, Ledecky now has 10 Olympic medals for her career (seven gold and three silver). She is the fourth swimmer in history to win back-to-back-to-back Olympic golds in a single event. The other three swimmers are Michael Phelps, Australian Dawn Fraser, and Egerszegi.
What’s more, she is two medals away from tying the record for the medals amongst American females. Three female swimmers, Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres, and Coughlin presently share the lead with 12 each. There was speculation as to whether or not Ledecky would keep competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In a post-race interview, she responded with a vehement ‘yes’.
We have not seen the last of, quite possibly, the greatest female American swimmer in Olympic history. That is to say, good news for the USA, bad news for everyone else.
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