Katie Ledecky Wins Historic Ninth Olympic Gold Medal in 800m Freestyle

And another one. The best Olympic women’s swimmer ever is still doing and accomplishing a feat she first achieved as a teenager. While everyone enjoys seeing Katie demolish the competition in the 1500m; her strength and endurance in other disciplines cannot be denied either. Case in point, on Saturday Katie Ledecky wins her historic ninth Olympic gold medal in the 800m freestyle; thus putting herself in Michael Phelps territory.

Michael Phelps? Yes, you read that correctly. Granted, Ledecky does not have as many Olympic medals as Michael. Since before he hung up his googles and swim cap for the last time; Phelps had accumulated 28 medals in his stellar career. But thanks to Ledecky’s win today, the pair share something pretty elite in common.

If you pry open the sports history books and look to see the ONLY swimmers to win four Olympic gold medals in the same event. You will only find two names there written in stone. Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps.

Katie started winning in the 800m when she was just a teenager (15) during 2012 in London, then Rio, Tokyo and now Paris. This now makes her the first woman ever, and the second swimmer ever after Michael Phelps, to four-peat in an individual Olympic event.

So how did Katie go about winning her fourth straight Olympic gold in the 800m freestyle? Well, it was not easy. In the past, Katie didn’t really have someone challenging her in this race. But this time was way different.

The race for Ledecky was probably way close for comfort. Australian star Ariarne Titmus stayed within a body length for nearly the entire 16 laps. However, eventually Katie prevails. Ledecky touched first in 8:11.04, with Titmus 1.25 seconds behind in the silver position. Katie’s fellow USA teammate, Paige Madden, took bronze, her first individual Olympic medal.

Katie Ledecky Wins Historic Ninth Olympic Gold Medal in 800m Freestyle

So how does Katie feel about her performance and her historic fourth Olympic gold in the 800m? And does she feel like she will compete in 2028? After her race, Ledecky discussed all. She states,

“I knew Ariarne was going to give me everything she had. We got 36 hours of rest, so I knew it was going to be tough all the way down to the finish. I just had to stick in the race, and trust myself, trust my training, trust that I know how to race. I’m just relieved I got my hand on the wall.

I’d love to (compete in 2028), but it’s not easy. I’ll take it year by year, and give it everything I’ve got for as long as I have left in me.

[Out of records set], the four times one (record) is the one that means the most to me. August 3 is the day I won in 2012, and I didn’t want August 3 to be a day I didn’t like, moving forwards. Kinda felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself. So I’m happy I got the job done.”

Well, we may have seen Ledecky’s final Olympics (although we hope it isn’t). If this is it, she certainly goes out on top. With her Paris performance, she enters into a tie with Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for most gold medals by a woman in any Olympic sport. And into a five-way tie with Latynina, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Paavo Nurmi for second-most gold medals ever, after Phelps. What a swimmer, what an Olympic career.

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