Katie Ledecky has had remarkable success as an Olympic athlete. Her domination as a swimmer has made her a hero/celebrity in the United States — although her humble nature makes her something of a reluctant one. She has nine gold medals in her career, and the latest came when she finished first in the 800-meter freestyle.
Ledecky has won that event in four consecutive Olympic competitions. After she touched the wall first, beating silver medalist Ariarne Titmus of Australia, the two rivals embraced and congratulated each other. On the medal stand, Ledecky brought teammate and third-place finisher Paige Madden onto the first-place rung of the medal stand and celebrated together.
With her nine gold medals, Ledecky holds the record for most gold medals by an American woman athlete in Olympic history.
Ledecky met the media after winning the 800 and admitted that it was “pretty neat” to win the same event in four straight Olympics. She also allowed a photo to be taken in front of the Eiffel Tower with her arms spread in triumph.
She admitted that she felt pressure leading up to the event, but she clearly knows how to respond when the bright lights are on and the whole country is watching her perform.
“Coming into the 800, I just felt a lot of pressure from myself, just from my history of the race,” Ledecky said. “And I knew going into it that it was going to be a really tough race and that everyone in the field was going to throw everything they had at me.”
Ledecky has won multiple medals in the 2024 Olympics
Prior to her victory in the 800 meter freestyle, Ledecky had already won gold in the 1500 meter free, silver in the women's 4×200 meter freestyle relay, and bronze in the 400 meter free.
The 27-year-old Ledecky has repeatedly said that she's not ready to retire from her sport. She says she is very interested in competing in the Los Angeles games in 2028 as long as she is healthy and still performing at a high level.
“I don't feel like I'm close to being finished in the sport yet,” Ledecky said. “I'd love to continue on and just seeing the kind of support that the French athletes are getting here, I think all the U.S. athletes are thinking about how cool that could be in Los Angeles having the home crowd. So that would be amazing to be able to compete there.”
Ledecky also said that while she is proud of her victories and the medals that she has won, it's the relationships she has made in her sport that she will remember the most as the years go by. She added that she feels the same joy in practice and training as she does when competing in championship events.
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