Katie Ledecky, who is considered the best female swimmer in history, won the gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle event on Wednesday night at the Olympics. She has been dominating this event for more than ten years.
Ledecky seized the lead right away and never let up, setting an Olympic record with a time of 15:30.02. Along with the bronze she won in the 400-meter freestyle on Saturday, this is her first gold medal of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
After this triumph, Ledecky tied the record for the most Olympic swimming medals won by a woman with her 12 medals from four Games.
Along with Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin, and Emma McKeon, an Australian competitor in Paris, she shares this esteemed award. Ledecky is still in the running for two events: the 800-meter freestyle and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay.
Ledecky, 27, is still unbeaten in her professional career in the 1,500-meter freestyle, having captured five world titles and the first-ever Olympic gold medal in the competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She now has the 20 fastest times ever recorded in this race and owns the world record in the 1,500-meter freestyle, which she set six times.
Ledecky was defeated in the 1,500-meter freestyle event 14 years ago while she was a high school student swimming in a regional competition in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.
