US swimmer Katie Ledecky confirms supremacy with ninth Games gold medal

PARIS – Already rated as one of swimming’s all-time greats coming into the Paris Olympics, Katie Ledecky made it official on Aug 3 by storming to victory in her signature event, the 800m freestyle, to end her work in the French capital in grand style.

French torpedo Leon Marchand may be the prince of Paris, electrifying the home nation with four spectacular gold medals at Paris La Defense Arena.

But Ledecky now shares the throne of greatest female Olympian with Larisa Latynina after winning a ninth gold to equal the Soviet gymnast’s record.

“The week was kind of, you know, had its ups and downs, like any other meet,” said the American, whose 2024 haul also included gold in the 1,500m freestyle, silver in the 4x200m free and bronze in the 400m free.

“I knew I just had to focus on the races, don’t focus on times – just focus on getting the job done, getting to hear the national anthem at the end of the races as many times as I could.”

In sharp contrast to Ledecky’s runaway win in the 1,500m, the 800m freestyle was a thriller from start to finish, with Ariarne Titmus matching her stroke for stroke for almost the entire distance.

But with the American setting a relentless, grinding pace, her great Australian rival would never get her nose in front, settling for silver with Ledecky getting to the wall first in a time of 8min 11.04sec.

Said Titmus (8:12.29): “She’s made me a better athlete. I totally respect what she has done in this sport more than anyone else.

“She’s been winning this race since I was 11 years old and I turn 24 next month and that is just remarkable. I feel very honoured and privileged to be her rival and I hope I’ve made her a better athlete.”

Paige Madden (8:13.00) took bronze for the United States.

“I knew it was going to be a tough race,” said Ledecky. “I felt confident but I knew it was going to be tough no matter what all the way to the finish.

“I have good early speed, and I can come home hard, and I can trust my endurance.

“I knew I just needed to stay calm through that and really just try to inch my way forward each lap, and I think I did a pretty good job of that.”

It marked the fourth consecutive Games Ledecky has won the 800m free, and she joins compatriot Michael Phelps, who has 23 golds among his 28 medals, as the only swimmers to win gold at four different Olympics.

“Given that Michael’s the only one who’s ever done that, I think that just shows how difficult that is,” said Ledecky. “Especially in the 800, it’s just a lot of miles.”

The 800m free was the final event on Ledecky’s Paris card and she returns home having added two golds, a silver and a bronze, bringing her Olympic stockpile to 14 medals – with more possible.

The 27-year-old admitted that a home Olympics in Los Angeles in four years’ time intrigues her but she was not ready to commit to being there.

“I’d love to,” smiled Ledecky. “We’ll see, I mean, it’s not easy.

“Again, I’ll take it year by year, and we’ll see, give it everything I’ve got for as long as I have left in me.”

Meanwhile, Canada’s Summer McIntosh underlined her status as the rising star of the sport with her third gold in Paris.

In the 200m individual medley, she led from Australian Kaylee McKeown after the backstroke before American Alex Walsh grabbed the advantage at the last turn, following the breaststroke leg. The 17-year-old eventually prevailed in an Olympic record (2:06.56).

American Kate Douglass (2:06.92) secured silver while McKeown (2:08.08) took the bronze after Walsh, who had finished third, was disqualified for an illegal turn.

“It’s pretty surreal. I’m just so proud of myself of how I’ve been able to recover and manage the events because it is a lot,” said the teenager McIntosh.

Hungary’s Kristof Milak claimed his country’s second swimming gold of these Games with victory in the men’s 100m butterfly in 49.90 seconds.

Canada’s Joshua Liendo (49.99sec) took silver while his compatriot Ilya Kharun (50.45sec) claimed bronze.

It was the second time this week that the Hungarians have been celebrating at Paris La Defense Arena after Hubert Kos earned gold in the 200m backstroke.

Milak was a silver medallist in the same event in Tokyo and also took silver in the 200m fly behind Leon Marchand this week.

He now has two Olympic golds in the fly, adding to his 200m success three years ago.

In the mixed 4x100m medley relay, the US clinched gold in a world record to eclipse China (3:37.55) and Australia (3:38.76).

Their team of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske touched in 3:37.43 to narrowly better the 3:37.58 mark set by Britain at the Tokyo Games. REUTERS, AFP