All eyes were on U.S. athlete Katie Ledecky when it came to the women’s final for the 1,500-m freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where the swimmer scored her eighth Olympic gold medal.
Clocking in at 15 minutes, 30.02 seconds, Ledecky shaved seven seconds off her time from the U.S. trials, though she didn’t reach the world record she set in 2018, when she finished at 15 minutes, 20.48 seconds. With eight career gold medals and 12 Olympic medals overall, she is now tied on both counts with Jenny Thompson for the most medals for a female swimmer.
Ledecky has long been the favorite to win the 1,500-meter at Paris, simply because few other athletes have fully owned an event like she has. During the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, Ledecky took home the gold during the event’s inaugural year. She scored that victory only an hour and 13 minutes after competing in the 200-meter freestyle.
The last time the 27-year-old swimmer was beaten in a 1,500-meter race was 14 years ago, according to the New York Times. She is currently the world record holder for both the women’s 800-meter and the 1,500-meter freestyle, in the long course as well as the short. Ledecky has also won the gold in this specific event four times in the World Championships and twice in the Pan Pacific Championships. Additionally, she has broken 14 world and 37 national records in swimming during her career thus far.
Before she even competed in the final, the swimmer’s performance in the 1,500-meter blew Olympics fans away. On Monday, Ledecky competed in a heat for the event and performed so well, she couldn’t be seen in the same frame as her competitors. Ledecky finished the race with a time of 15:47.43, a score that was 17.83 seconds faster than the event’s second place swimmer, China’s Li Bingjie.
Prior to her performance on Tuesday, Ledecky had seven gold medals. One was won during the London Olympics in 2012, four more were won during the Rio Olympics in 2016 and the final two were won during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In Paris, she also won bronze for the 400-meter freestyle.
Looking ahead, the swimmer has a chance at these summer games to break a record and become the most decorated female Olympic swimmer of all-time. Ledecky started Wednesday with 11 Olympic medals, one behind the record held by Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Emma McKeon.
The athlete will be competing in the finals for the 4×200 freestyle relay on Thursday and the 800-meter freestyle on Saturday.
