Katie Ledecky’s 2024 Olympic run ended with a full-circle moment.
Twelve years ago, a 15-year-old Ledecky won the women’s 800-meter freestyle final at the 2012 London Olympics to claim her first gold.
That was the night she blew away the field and put the world on notice. Now the most decorated female American swimmer of all time, she had a chance to join Michael Phelps as the only swimmers to win four golds in the same event.
Ledecky had won three consecutive gold medals in the 800-meter freestyle entering the night. She was beaten in this event in a regional meet by Canadian Summer McIntosh earlier in the year, but McIntosh did not swim in the event in Paris.
Ledecky was still the record holder at the distance and had fastest time heats earlier in the morning.
Even as the overwhelming favorite, Ledecky went neck-and-neck with Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, left of her in lane No. 3, the entire race. Titmus, one of the best closers in any sport, left little room to breathe.
However, while most expected a late-race push from Titmus, it was Ledecky who wound up pulling away from by more than a body length over her Aussie rival.
Titmus set a new personal best in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:12.29, but that was only good enough to win silver Saturday night. Ledecky fought off every challenge that the Aussie could throw at her, winning gold with a time of 8:11.04.
Another reminder of how competitive this race was: Team USA’s Paige Madden, who took bronze with a time of 8:13.00, set a new personal best in the 800-meter freestyle by more than five seconds.
This was Ledecky’s fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle. And with nine total Olympic gold medals, she ties Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most all-time by a female Olympian.
She heads home from Paris with two gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal, giving her 14 total medals across four Olympic runs.
