Katie Ledecky will be looking for an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle when she competes in her final event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Ledecky first won gold as a 15-year-old at the 2012 London Games. She then set a world record in the event while repeating in Rio in 2016. Ledecky made it three in a row three years ago in Tokyo, setting the stage for her to do something no other female Olympic swimmer has ever accomplished. (Only Michael Phelps, in the 200-meter individual medley, has ever won the same event four consecutive times.)
In addition, one more gold medal for Ledecky would be her ninth, breaking a tie with Jenny Thompson and giving her the most by any American woman in Olympic history.
➤ Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel
Ledecky cruised to a comfortable victory in her qualifying heat, one which included fellow American Paige Madden and 400 free gold medalist Ariarne Titmus of Australia.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Ledecky owns the fastest 16 times in history in this event, though this (8:16:62) was not one of them.
Katie Ledecky will swim her final event of the 2024 Paris Olympics when she competes in the 800-meter freestyle final. The event is scheduled to start at 3:09 p.m. ET (9:09 p.m. in Paris) on Saturday, August 3.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
2024-12-26 08:452171 view
2024-12-26 08:411202 view
2024-12-26 08:221705 view
2024-12-26 08:20598 view
2024-12-26 07:511144 view
2024-12-26 07:16108 view
Drew Barrymore hopes people will become "more comfortable with physical touch" after sparking mixed
Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley are grieving the loss of a member of their Vampire Diaries family.The ac
In October of 2023, after Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon was asked a q
