Katie Ledecky wins gold in women's 1,500-meter freestyle, tying record with 8th Olympic victory
Ledecky also set an Olympic record in the race
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Make that eight-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky.
The 27-year-old tied Jenny Thompson for the most Olympic gold medals in women's swimming history after taking home the 1,500-meter on Wednesday. She set an Olympic record time of 15:30.02 in her dominant win.
It was also her 12th medal overall, tying Thompson and Emma McKeon for the most in Olympic history for women's swimming.
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USA's Katie Ledecky celebrates after winning the final of the women's 1500m freestyle swimming event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo on July 28, 2021. (OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Ledecky was well ahead early on, getting out to a lead of over three seconds a quarter of the way through - and she never looked back.
At the 1200-meter mark, it had gone up to nearly eight seconds. It wound up being a 10-second margin of victory.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In fact, the lead got so far that cameras had to zoom out just to show the next-fastest swimmer.
Katie Ledecky (USA) in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Paris La Défense Arena. (Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports)
She also won the event in Tokyo in 2021 and is a five-time world champion in the event (2013, 2015, 2017, 2022, 2023).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Entering Wednesday, she had one medal in these games, taking home the bronze in the women's 400m freestyle.
She has now medaled in all but one of her Olympic finals, finishing in fifth in the 200m free in 2021 (the bronze earlier this week was also her first non-gold or silver medal).
Ledecky will go for gold once again for the 800-meter freestyle, with prelims on Friday and the final on Saturday afternoon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Katie Ledecky of United States is seen on the podium with her gold medal from the Women's 800m Freestyle final on day seven of the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A on July 29, 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan. (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
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With a win, she'll become the first woman to win nine gold medals in swimming. A win would also tie her with Mark Spitz for the second-most swimming golds in Olympic history, regardless of gender.
A medal in the event would also make her just one of two swimmers, male or female, to win 13 total medals at the Olympics (Michael Phelps won 28).
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