American superstar Katie Ledecky equalled the record for the most gold medals by a female Olympian as she won the 800m freestyle title at the Paris Games.
Ledecky clocked eight minutes 11.04 seconds to become the only woman – and only swimmer other than the great Michael Phelps – with four Olympic golds in the same event.
It was Ledecky’s ninth Olympic gold, moving her level with former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, and taking her overall tally to 14 medals.
Phelps has the most medals of any Olympian with 28, including 23 golds.
“The four-times record is the one that means the most to me,” Ledecky, 27, said afterwards.
“3 August is the day I won in 2012, and I didn’t want 3 August to be a day I didn’t like moving forwards.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself, so I’m happy I got the job done.”
Earlier on Saturday, Summer McIntosh’s astonishing debut Games continued, with the Canadian 17-year-old securing her third gold with victory in the women’s 200m individual medley.
But Great Britain’s 4x100m medley relay defence ended in disappointment, with the quartet finishing seventh.
Ledecky’s dominance over distance continues
Ledecky has won four medals in Paris alone – two golds, a silver and a bronze.
She became the United States’ most decorated female Olympian with silver in the women’s 4x200m relay on Thursday.
Such is her dominance in the 800m freestyle that she has lost just once over the distance in 13 years – and that was to rising star McIntosh at a regional meet earlier in 2024.
McIntosh opted not to swim the 800m in Paris, meaning Ledecky’s biggest rival was old foe Ariarne Titmus.
Australia’s Titmus beat Ledecky to 400m freestyle gold earlier in the week but she could not stay with the American in the closing stages of her favourite distance.
The two shared a warm moment at the end of the race, with Ledecky raising both their arms in the air before Titmus applauded her opponent as she left the arena.
“We have just seen a little bit of history there,” Steve Parry, Olympic bronze medallist for Britain in 2004, said on BBC 5 Live.
“Ledecky is the absolute queen of the pool. To be able to see someone dominate a distance event for 13 years is absolutely brilliant.”
Titmus took silver in 8:12.29, with Ledecky’s American team-mate Paige Madden (8:13.00) completing the podium.
‘Winning gets rid of all the pain’
Canada’s McIntosh is becoming one of the stories of the Games, with the teenager tipped to break numerous records in her career.
She has already started in Paris, touching home in the 200m individual medley in an Olympic record 2:05.56 to ensure a fourth medal at her debut Games.
“For sure it was painful. Winning gets rid of all the pain,” she told the BBC.
“I was screaming at myself under water a few times because I could tell that I was behind.
“I knew that I just had to keep going and I just had to push through that wall.”
She previously took gold in the 200m butterfly and 400m medley, along with silver in the 400m freestyle.
Americans Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh won silver and bronze respectively, before Walsh was disqualified before she had even left the pool for an illegal turn from backstroke into breaststroke.
That meant Australia’s Kaylee McKeown was upgraded to bronze.
McKeown later joined her team-mates for the mixed relay, with the Australians securing bronze.
The United States won gold in 3:37.43 and China silver, but Britain’s quartet of Kathleen Dawson, James Wilby, Duncan Scott and Anna Hopkin struggled from the off and finished well out of the medals.
Source Agencies
