With Nine Olympic Gold Medals and 14 Total, Katie Ledecky Becomes The Most Decorated U.S. Female Olympian
by Peggy Shinn
NANTERRE, France — A dozen years ago to the day, Katie Ledecky won her first Olympic gold medal. She was 15 years old, not yet a sophomore in high school, and was so far off the radar that night that reporters were not even paying attention to the women’s 800, instead interviewing Michael Phelps after what he called at the time his final Olympic race.
After her win that night, Ledecky was wide-eyed and dripping with pool water as she met with the press.
So much has changed since then.
At the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Ledecky won her ninth gold medal — also in the 800 freestyle — and more deeply etched her name into the Olympic annals. She is now the most decorated female Olympian from the United States.
Nine Olympic gold medals also ties her with Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina for most Olympic gold medals won by a women. Latynina won nine golds between 1956-1964.
In winning the 800 at the 2024 Games, Ledecky also became the seventh Olympian to win four consecutive gold medals in the same event — and second swimmer after Phelps (who won the 200 IM in four consecutive Olympiads).
Not one to chase history, Ledecky admitted that one record will stick with her.
“Four times is the one that means the most to me,” she admitted, explaining why she showed four fingers at the finish.
“I knew that August 3 is the day I won in 2012, and I didn't want August 3 to be a day that I didn't like moving forward,” she added. “I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I'm just really happy that I could get the job done.”
“I know how hard it is to defend an Olympic title, and to go four in a row is unreal,” said Ariarne Titmus from Australia, who finished second to Ledecky in the 800. Earlier this week, Titmus defended her Olympic title in the 400-meter freestyle.
Ledecky had to fight for this 800 win, though. Titmus hung tough, not giving Ledecky her usual comfortable lead, pushing the American the whole race. Ledecky touched the wall in 8:11.04, well off her Olympic and world record set at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (8:04.79), but 1.24 seconds ahead of Titmus.
“I knew that it was going to be a tough race, all the way down to the finish,” said Ledecky. “I felt confident coming into it. I just had to stick in the race and trust myself, trust my training, trust that I know how to race that event. I was just relieved that I got my hand on the wall.”
Like Phelps during his swimming career, Ledecky has achieved legendary status and is now the one to inspire others. Titmus, 23, remembered watching Ledecky compete at the Rio Olympic Games while the Australian was racing at the Junior Pan Pac championships, swimming the 800 in 8:37.
“To think eight years later, I challenged her to her fourth consecutive [win] in the 800 is pretty cool,” said Titmus. “I'm really proud of myself, and I feel very honored and privileged to be her rival, and I hope I've made her a better athlete. She has certainly made me become the athlete I am.”
Paige Madden, 25, also remembered watching Ledecky on TV. Then she became Ledecky’s teammate, competing with her in the 4x200 freestyle relays at both the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games (winning silver in both). Madden also qualified to compete in the final of the 800 freestyle in Paris, swimming in a lane adjacent to Ledecky. Madden finished less than two seconds behind Ledecky, winning the bronze medal in 8:13.00.
“She has definitely rewritten distance freestyle and swimming in general,” Madden said of Ledecky. “Just to be next to her in the ready room, she does my swim cap for every race. That’s my good luck charm, I guess. Coming full circle from watching her on the TV to now being her peer and her teammate, being on that four-by-200 relay was so special.”
Coming to Paris, Ledecky had 10 Olympic medals (seven golds), with a strong chance to move into the record books. She passed Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres (each with 12 Olympic medals) as the most decorated U.S. Olympic women after winning in the 1,500-meter freestyle earlier this week.
Of note, Ledecky has won eight of her Olympic gold medals in individual events. Thompson and Torres won all of their gold medals in relays. Only two of Thompson’s 12 medals came from individual events, four for Torres.
Now with nine Olympic golds, Ledecky joins more elite company. Only three other Olympians have won nine gold medals: Finnish running legend Paavo Nurmi, U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz and U.S. track star Mark Carl Lewis. None of won nine Olympic gold medals in the 21st century.
With 14 total Olympic medals, Ledecky moved into fifth most decorated Olympian of all time behind Phelps (23 Olympic golds, 28 total medals), Latynina with 18 total medals, Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen (15) and Soviet gymnast Nikolai Andrianov (15).
Looking back over the 2024 Olympic swim meet, Ledecky was not yet sure how the historic impact would hit her. All she has is her current emotions to go by.
“Not every [race] time was necessarily what I wanted this week, but I still felt so much joy going out there and racing,” she said. “I think that's what I'm going to remember the most. There's that old saying, I can't remember who said it, about how the medals will fade and people forget their times. But you remember the relationships, you remember the emotions that you feel at these kinds of meets. That's something that will stick with me.”
And Ledecky’s Olympic career is not over. She hopes to compete in the LA 2028 Olympic Games in four years, when she will be 31, almost half-a-lifetime older than she was in London.
“I'd love to [compete in LA]!” she said with a smile, still dripping from the pool. “I mean, we'll see. It's not easy. But again, I'll take it year by year and give it everything I’ve got for as long as I have left in me.”
An award-winning freelance writer based in Vermont, Peggy Shinn is in Paris covering her eighth Olympic Games. She has contributed to TeamUSA.org since its inception in 2008.