Katie Ledecky once again won the women’s freestyle 1500m on Wednesday, July 31 at Paris La Defence Arena.
According to the Olympics, 27-year-old Ledecky broke her own record by finishing 1500 m in just 15:30.
Ledecky, after winning her 8th Olympic gold medal, said, “I was just really happy with the time, honestly. My three swims prior to this, I kept feeling that the time was a lot slower than it felt. That was the first one that felt like it showed at the time. I’m really happy.”
She further added, “I just wanted to swim a time I could be really happy with, and that was the one. It’s never easy to win a gold medal. Just trying to soak in every moment of it.”
Ledecky equaled Jenny Thompson’s record of most (8) Olympic golds by American women. After winning the 12th medal of her career, she has tied with Thompson, Natalie Coughlin, and Dara Torres for the most medals won by any US woman in history.
Upon achieving this milestone, the swimmer said, “I try not to think about history very much. I know those names, those people I’m up with. They’re people I looked up to when I first started swimming, so it’s an honour to be named among them. I’m grateful for them inspiring me. There are so many great swimmers that have helped me get to this moment.”
Moreover, France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova won the silver, while Germany’s Isabel Gose won the bronze medal.
