Swimmer Ledecky makes history with 8th Olympic gold medal of his career
Báo Tuổi Trẻ•01/08/2024
With her victory in the 1,500m freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics, American swimmer Katie Ledecky became the first female swimmer to win gold medals at four Olympics.
Katie Ledecky with the 1,500m freestyle gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics - Photo: Reuters
Early on August 1, Katie Ledecky - considered the greatest female long-distance swimmer of all time, finished first in the women's 1,500m event with a time of 15 minutes 30.02 seconds, breaking her own Olympic record in front of a ecstatic crowd in the suburbs of Paris. France's Anastasiya Kirpichnikova won the silver medal (15 minutes 40.35 seconds), while third place went to Germany's Isabel Gose (15 minutes 41.16 seconds). Speaking to the press after this victory, Ledecky said: "I'm really satisfied with the time achieved, very happy. It's never easy to win a gold medal. So I'm going to try to enjoy every moment of it." This is also Ledecky's 8th gold medal at the Olympics, helping her equal the record of American athlete Jenny Thompson in the list of female swimmers with the most gold medals in Olympic history. However, Ledecky still has a chance to surpass when she competes in the 800m event and joins the US team in the 4x200m freestyle relay event. If counting all medals, Ledecky has 12 medals of all kinds, equal to legends such as Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin for the most medals ever won by an Olympic swimmer.
Ledecky is one of the greatest swimmers in Olympic history - Photo: REUTERS
"I try not to think too much about history," Ledecky said. "I know those names, the people I know. They're people I looked up to when I first started swimming. So it's an honor to be named among them. I'm grateful for the inspiration they've given me. There are so many great swimmers who have helped me get to this point." So far, the U.S. has won five gold medals, temporarily ranking seventh in the medal table. Leading the way is China with nine gold medals, followed by France and Japan with eight gold medals each, Australia with seven gold medals, and Great Britain and South Korea with six gold medals each.
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