Subscribe
Follow Us
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Katie Ledecky wins the gold medal!”
Over a legendary career that started back in 2012 when she competed in her first Olympics at the age of 15, it seems impossible to truly put into words the greatness of swimming legend Katie Ledecky:
- 9 Olympic gold medals
- 14 Olympic medals overall
- 21 World Championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer
- With 14 medals and 9 gold medals, Ledecky is the most decorated American woman, most decorated female swimmer, the woman with the most gold medals (tied with Larisa Latynina) and fifth-most decorated athlete in Olympic history … are you not entertained?
- A record 16 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships, breaking the previous mark held by the one and only Michael Phelps
- Ledecky's 10 individual medals at the Olympics and 26 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are records in women's swimming
- She’s the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle (both long course and short course), as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle (long course)
- She holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events
- Widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians ever
So now the only question is this: what’s next for Ledecky? Well, surprisingly (or maybe not!) she isn't satisfied just yet, as she’s striving to return to the Olympic Games for LA 2028, the first Olympics on US soil since Atlanta in 1996.
“I would love to have that opportunity,” Ledecky explained exclusively to ClutchPoints via Zoom. “My goal is to be there in LA competing. It’s such a unique opportunity that a lot of US swimmers will be very excited about … it will be tough to make the Olympic team again, I never take anything for granted. We’ll see what happens!”
Mark your calendars: July 14, 2028. The Opening Ceremony of the 2028 Summer Olympics from Los Angeles, California.
They will mark the fifth Summer Olympics and ninth Olympics overall to be hosted by the United States. Having previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 as well as 1984, LA will become the third three-time host city after London (1908, 1948, 2012) and Paris (1900, 1924, 2024), also making it the first non-European city to do so.
What would being at LA 2028 mean to her?
“A major pinch-me moment.”
🐐 9x Olympic gold medalist @katieledecky isn’t DONE YET! 🐐
She’s got her eyes set on competing in the LA 2028 Olympics on American soil 🏊♀️
What would it mean to her to be competing in a US Olympics?
“A major pinch me moment!”
(via @STATSports1, @RobLep1) pic.twitter.com/QzEhfpUasb
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 10, 2024
Katie Ledecky's journey
At the 2012 United States Olympic trials (her first senior national competition), Katie Ledecky made the US Olympic team by finishing first in the 800-meter freestyle (8:19.78) — over two seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kate Ziegler.
In a sign of history-breaking moments to come throughout her career, Ledecky was the youngest American participant at the 2012 Olympic Games (15 years, 4 months, and 10 days).
But Ledecky wasn’t just there to compete. She was there to win.
Ledecky qualified to swim in the 800-meter freestyle final by placing third overall in the heats. In the final, Ledecky shocked the world, winning gold by more than four seconds, with a time of 8:14.63, trailing just behind Rebecca Adlington's world record of 8:14.10 set in 2008.
She also broke Janet Evans' American record of 8:16.22, a mark that she had held since 1989.
“If you had asked me five years prior to that,” Ledecky said. “I never could've imagined I’d made it to my first Olympics in 2012 at 15 or to four Olympics. After my first Olympics, I didn't know what the future would hold and I just try to take it one step at a time.”
A historic Paris 2024
Paris 2024 this past summer was a very successful fourth Olympic games for Katie Ledecky. She left Paris with some new hardware: two gold medals, a silver and a bronze.
It was a full circle moment for Katie, who won her first gold medal on Aug 3, 2012. Fifteen years later, on Aug 3 2024, she won her fourth straight gold in the 800-meter individual medley.
Ledecky also defended her title in the 1500-meter freestyle event, setting the new Olympic record with a time of 15:30:02.
She won her fourth consecutive gold medal and eighth individual gold in the 800-meter freestyle, which was an all-time record for women at the Olympics. The previous one set by gymnast Věra Čáslavská had stood for 56 years.
She also competed in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, joined by Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, and Erin Gemmell. With a collective time of 7:40.86, the team won the silver medal.
Article Continues Below
“The support that I’ve had around me: if you read my book, Just Add Water, a lot of the chapters are titled after the people in my life that have contributed to my journey whether that’s my family members, my teammates, my coaches who have allowed me to pursue my goals to the fullest and keep my life balanced.”
When she's not in the pool, Ledecky is a fan taking it all in, just like the rest of us.
She describes a moment in the Olympic Village during Paris 2024 where she was headed to the cafeteria to grab a snack. The elevator opened and who did she see? American tennis superstar Coca Gauff and the United States women’s tennis team.
Ledecky grabbed some photos with Gauff and the full team. It was a quick 30 seconds but an opportunity for two of the greatest female athletes in the world to meet.
“There's so much respect we have for one another as members of Team USA and we're always trying to support each other as athletes … always one eye on the TV whenever we have that opportunity to see how each other is performing.”
After her events were over, Ledecky stayed in Paris a few extra days to take in everything, including cheering on her training partner and three-time Olympic gold medalist Bobby Finke, who she competes with every day.
She got to watch him defend his title in the 1500-meter from Tokyo 2020 while also breaking the Olympic record. It was safe to say Ledecky was excited:
BOBBY FINKE GOES BACK-TO-BACK TO WIN GOLD FOR TEAM USA AND BREAKS THE MEN'S 1500 WORLD RECORD 🥇 pic.twitter.com/9VrwHnrgO3
— ESPN (@espn) August 4, 2024
Panasonic partnership
Katie Ledecky partnered with Panasonic back in 2020 with the goal to broaden access, diversity and inclusion in STEM/STEAM fields — and educate the next generation about clean technology and manufacturing while exploring the harmony between technological innovation and creative expression”
“I love seeing young students excited to learn … a lot of people see me as a swimmer but first and foremost I've always been a student … I'm still trying to learn every day … even if you love a sport, it's important to take your studies seriously. I'm excited whenever I get the opportunities to interact with students and teachers.”
As the most decorated American female Olympian of all time (4-time Olympian, 21-time World Champion and 14-time Olympic medal-winning swimmer), Katie is a proud STEM advocate. The STEM Forward program and Virtual Field Trips build on her ongoing work with Panasonic as a STEM leader and member of Team Panasonic.
STEM Forward, which combines Katie’s passion for STEM education and advocacy, Panasonic’s legacy of innovation, and Discovery Education’s worldwide leadership in education technology, is aimed at providing students with real-world learning experiences and inspiring them to pursue careers in STEM.
For more information, visit https://na.panasonic.com/us.
Watch the full interview with 9x Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky and host Rob Lepelstat on the ClutchPoints YouTube page. Past guests include Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ray Lewis, Lawrence Taylor, Ice Cube and Mark Messier.
Follow Rob on Twitter @RobLep1, Instagram @STATSports1co, and subscribe to STAT Sports with Rob Lepelstat on YouTube.
