Katie Ledecky swims into history with gold medal in 800 freestyle at Paris Olympics
Katie Ledecky continued to make history at the Paris Olympics by becoming the second swimmer in history to win an event at four straight Summer Games.
Ledecky, who held off Ariarne Titmus to win the 800-meter freestyle Saturday night, tied a record previously held solely by Michael Phelps, who won gold in the 200-individual medley at Athens, Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro.
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Ledecky claimed her first gold with a surprise victory in the 800 free as a 15-year-old at the 2012 London Games. She has dominated the grueling race ever since.
It was Ledecky’s second gold medal in Paris and ninth of her remarkable career, which marked another milestone.
She became only the sixth Olympian to reach that figure, joining swimmer Mark Spitz, track star Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi in a tie for second place.
The only athlete to win more golds is Phelps with 23.
Ledecky went faster than her winning time in Tokyo, touching in 8 minutes, 11.04 seconds. Titmus, the Australian star known as the “Terminator,” was right on her shoulder nearly the entire race, but Ledecky pulled away in the final 100.
Titmus, who beat Ledecky in the 400 freestyle, settled for silver at 8:12.29. The bronze went to another American, Paige Madden at 8:13.00.
