Katie Ledecky emphatically made her case Wednesday for being the greatest woman of all time in Olympic swimming.
She easily churned to victory in the 1500-meter freestyle final at the Paris Olympics to defend her Tokyo 2021 title and tighten her hold on an event she hasn’t lost in 14 years.
Now, the world record holder has collected her first gold at the Paris Games as she continues her assault on the record books. And she did it in an Olympic record time of 15 minutes and 30.02 seconds.
France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova took silver, and Germany’s Isabel Gose won bronze.
Ledecky achieved several milestones with her victory: She tied the women’s swimming record of 12 Olympic medals overall, an accomplishment shared by fellow American Jenny Thompson and others. And she’ll get a chance in the 800-meter freestyle and a relay at the Games to beef up that number.
She also tied Thompson with her eighth gold medal. In addition, Ledecky stretched her own women’s Olympic swim record of six individual golds to seven.
The Washington, D.C., native won her 1500 heat on Tuesday by nearly 18 seconds, portending a victory on Wednesday.
She delivered, winning her first gold of the Games.
Ledecky, 27, looked sluggish while taking bronze in the 400-meter freestyle to begin her Olympics, but she now has momentum on her side ― with a strong possibility of making more history.
