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Katie Ledecky’s status as one of swimming’s all-time greats was established long before the Paris Olympics, and there are not many in the sport who have a medal collection to rival Michael Phelps.
Standing alone with the most medals in history for a female swimmer, with seven Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship golds, Ledecky has been a force to be reckoned with in the sport since she first made her debut at London 2012.
Born in Washington DC, Maryland in 1997, as the second child of a former collegiate swimmer, Ledecky took up the sport aged six alongside her brother Michael. While still in high school, Ledecky set the American and US Open record in the 500-yard freestyle, before the swimmer took part in her first senior national competition, the 2012 US Olympic trials, finishing first in the 800m freestyle.
Despite a lack of top-level experience, Ledecky was the youngest member of the United States team at the London Games. It was there that she gained international recognition, winning the 800m freestyle gold, and smashing a 23-year-old American record in the process. The 800m gold was Ledecky’s first senior international medal of her career, a rare feat for someone yet to enter their final year of school.
Ledecky has always held a love for her sport and has consistently pushed herself further. One of her most memorable quotes was when she said: “I try to make the good days great and take something positive from the days I’m not feeling good.”
Rio 2016 also came before Ledecky had started at Stanford University, her place having been strategically deferred for a year to allow for full focus on the Games. At Rio, Ledecky’s medal haul put her in a class above. She finished the games with four gold medals, a silver medal, and an 800m world record. Ledecky became the first swimmer since 1968 to win the 200, 400 and 800m freestyle at the same Olympics, and also most decorated United States female athlete at a single games. Only Phelps had more medals from Rio, with five golds and one silver.
Tokyo was not quite as prolific for Ledecky, although she left the pandemic-hit Games with two gold medals and two silvers, she also suffered her first loss in an individual event at the Olympics, her previous silver had come from a relay.
The women’s 1500m freestyle race was a new event for the Summer Olympics, although the men’s had been introduced four years previously, and Ledecky went on to become the first woman to be awarded that gold medal.
Ledecky’s success is at least in part due to her attitude, she said, reported by the Associated Press: “I’m pretty tough on myself,” she said. “But I think I have found the balance of being tough on myself but also having that grace.”
In all her years of competition, Ledecky is the only swimmer to win five consecutive world titles in an individual event, the 800m freestyle, an event which she has dominated for over a decade. She has broken 14 world and 37 national records, and will want to stand on the podium again at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Having burst onto the scene as a teenager, Ledecky is now 27 and potentially competing for a final time on the Olympic stage. Then again, the Los Angeles Games in 2028 might be too tempting to miss as an all-time great looks to write more history on home soil.
