It is usually a race for second place when Katie Ledecky‘s in the pool for the 1500-meter freestyle. It is her signature event.
The 27-year-old entered Wednesday’s race in Paris with 19 of the fastest times ever recorded in the 1500-meter freestyle and had not suffered a loss in the event in more than 14 years.
Ledecky won five world titles and the first-ever Olympic gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She dominated her competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials. And after capturing a bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle on Saturday inside Paris La Défense Arena, Ledecky returned to the pool looking to claim her record-tying 12th Olympic medal.
Camera crews had to shoot the race with broader lenses because Ledecky’s competition could barely stay in frame. Ledecky won gold convincingly, as expected, clocking in with a time of 15:30.02. The mark is the eighth-fastest time ever in the 1500-meter freestyle.
France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova earned a silver medal at 15:40.35 and Germany’s Isabel Gose finished with a time of 15:41.16, earning a bronze medal.
“I’m proud of the time,” Ledecky said after the race. “I just really wanted to swim a time I could be proud of and happy with, and I kind of let my mind wander during the race, thinking of all the people that have trained with me, I was kind of saying their names in my head and thinking about them.”
Ledecky’s eighth Olympic gold medal ties Jenny Thompson for the most for an American woman. She is also now tied with Thompson, Natalie Coughlin and Dara Torres with 12 total medals. With two more medals in Paris, Ledecky can pass Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals of any female Olympian.
“I’m just so honored to represent our country and those women who have set the standard for so many years, who have inspired me — they inspired me when I first started swimming,” Ledecky said. “So, thank you to them, thank you to everyone who has supported me all these years.”
Wednesday’s result was never in doubt. Ledecky, who continues to add new chapters to her legendary swimming career, can add more medals to her resume in the 800-meter freestyle and the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay later this week.
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