Current:Home > StocksKatie Ledecky makes more Olympic history and has another major milestone in her sights -ProfitQuest Academy
Katie Ledecky makes more Olympic history and has another major milestone in her sights
View
Date:2025-04-15 05:50:59
NANTERRE, France — The medal was silver, not gold, but not only was that expected, it hardly mattered. It was Olympic medal No. 13 in the illustrious career of Katie Ledecky, making her the most decorated U.S. female Olympian, in any sport, ever.
Ledecky, 27, competing in her fourth Olympics, swam the third leg of the women’s 4 x 200 freestyle relay Thursday night for the United States, helping to lead the Americans to the silver in a time of 7 minutes, 40.86 seconds. Australia won the gold in 7:38.08, an Olympic record.
China, using three swimmers in the preliminaries or final whose positive drug tests were never revealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency and Chinese officials, was third in 7:42.34. Three years ago in Tokyo in this event, China won the gold, with the United States winning silver and Australia bronze.
Thursday night’s relay silver was Ledecky’s third medal of the Paris Games, with one more event to go Saturday: the 800 freestyle, which she won in the 2012, 2016 and 2021 Olympics. She won a bronze medal in the 400 freestyle last Saturday and the gold medal in the 1,500 freestyle Wednesday.
Ledecky has now passed three other swimmers — Dara Torres, Jenny Thompson and Natalie Coughlin — all of whom had been tied for the most medals by an American woman in Olympic history with 12 until Ledecky arrived in Paris and quickly caught them.
Now, by passing that trio, Ledecky also became the most decorated female swimmer of all time, from any nation.
Why are all these swimmers at the top of the list? Their sport is chock full of races and relays, with the best swimmers competing in multiple events at every Olympics. And make no mistake about it, Ledecky is the best swimmer — the very best.
“I try not to think about history very much or any of that,” Ledecky said after winning the 1,500 for her 12th Olympic medal Wednesday. “But I know those names. They’re swimmers that I looked up to when I first started swimming, so it’s an honor just to be named among them. I’m grateful for them inspiring me.”
Ledecky has one more milestone awaiting her should she win her fourth consecutive gold in the 800 freestyle this weekend. She is tied with Thompson for the most gold medals won by an American woman in any Olympic sport with eight. A ninth obviously would break that tie.
It was fitting that Ledecky broke the overall medal record in the relay because even though seven of her eight gold medals have been won in individual events, she adores the team aspect of her sport.
“To accomplish that with the relay feels fitting to me,” she said Thursday after the race. “I’ve been on that relay so many times over the years with so many great people, so it’s really special to do it as part of a relay.”
Her relay teammates agreed.
“It’s just amazing to get to be a part of even 1/13th of the journey that she’s been on and I think it’s so much more fun to be on the relay than to be by yourself,” said her 19-year-old teammate Erin Gemmell, who once dressed up for Halloween as Ledecky when her father was Ledecky’s coach.
On a far less delightful note, China’s leadoff swimmer was Yang Junxuan, who has twice been caught doping, including being one of the 11 Chinese swimmers here who were among the 23 who tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication that comes in pill form and can enhance performance in athletes. The Chinese say that the drug somehow ended up as a powder spread around a kitchen in a hotel where the swimmers, including Yang, were staying in late December 2020 and the first days of January 2021.
When asked at a post-race press conference why anyone should trust the Chinese performances at these Games, Yang replied through an interpreter:
"I think there has been an official explanation and a very detailed statement. I think this is enough. We need to trust the authority and the official agencies including World Aquatics and WADA and CHINADA. … We want to use our own strength and our training to prove that everything is clear and what we have achieved today has no problem.”
In today’s swimming world, that was a statement open to considerable debate.
veryGood! (1598)
Related
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, will plead guilty in betting case
- Couple and a dog killed after mobile home explosion leaves 'large debris field' in Minnesota
- Technology crushing human creativity? Apple’s ‘disturbing’ new iPad ad has struck a nerve online
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Defense attacks Stormy Daniels’ credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump’s hush money trial
- Pennsylvania sees fewer mail ballots rejected for technicalities, a priority for election officials
- Idaho man gets 30 years in prison for trying to spread HIV through sex with dozens of victims
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- Bridge being built in northern Arizona almost five years after three children died in Tonto Creek
Ranking
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- Kai Cenat’s riot charges dropped after he apologizes and pays for Union Square mayhem
- Get 50% Off Adidas, 80% Off Peter Thomas Roth, 60% Off Pottery Barn & 97 More Deals
- College football way-too-early Top 25 after spring has SEC flavor with Georgia at No. 1
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Millie Bobby Brown Shares Look Inside Jake Bongiovi Romance While Celebrating His Birthday
- Review: The simians sizzle, but story fizzles in new 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'
- Study raises concern over exposure to flame retardant chemicals used in some car seats
Recommendation
The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
Man indicted in killing of Laken Riley, a Georgia case at the center of national immigration debate
Christine Quinn’s Estranged Husband Christian Dumontet Charged With Child Abuse and Assault
FDIC workplace was toxic with harassment and bullying, report claims, citing 500 employee accounts
Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
4 killed in yet another wrong-way highway crash in Connecticut
Woman accused of throwing her disabled son to his death in a crocodile-infested canal
Kim Kardashian’s “Broken Doll” Corset Outfit Is Even More Polarizing Than Met Gala Look