Paris (AFP) – American Katie Ledecky made history on Saturday with her ninth career Olympic gold while Canada’s Summer McIntosh underlined her status as the rising star of the sport with her third gold of the Paris Games. Ledecky powered to a fourth straight 800m Olympic freestyle title to equal the record for most gold medals won by a woman athlete in any sport. The 17-year-old McIntosh produced a superb late surge to win the 200m individual medley to add to her triumphs in the 400m medley and 200m butterfly.
Ledecky has dominated in the 800m since winning the event as a 15-year-old at the London Games in 2012, and while she was pushed all the way by Australian Ariarne Titmus, the defence of her crown never truly looked in danger. The 27-year-old hit the wall in 8min 11.04sec, ahead of Titmus (8:12.29) and the United States’ Paige Madden (8:13.00). “I knew Ariarne was going to give me everything she had,” said Ledecky. “I felt confident coming into it, but it was gonna be tough no matter what all the way down to the finish. I just had to stick in the race and trust myself, trust my training, trust that I know how to race that event and I am just kind of relieved that I got my hand on my wall.”
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A ninth gold drew her level with former Soviet-era artistic gymnast Larisa Latynina as the only women ever to collect that many titles. The greatest distance swimmer the sport has seen, she had already won the 1500m and earned silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m freestyle in Paris. No other woman swimmer has won gold at four different Olympics, and Ledecky said that was the record that gave her particular satisfaction. “I think four times one is the one that kind of means the most to me. I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself but I’m just really happy that I could get the job done,” she added.
Titmus, who beat Ledecky in the 400m freestyle, was full of admiration for the American’s achievement. “She’s been winning this race since I was 11 years old and I turn 24 next month. That is just remarkable. She’s unreal,” she said. McIntosh led from Australian Kaylee McKeown after the backstroke before the USA’s Alex Walsh grabbed the advantage at the last turn, following the breaststroke leg. But McIntosh once again produced the killer final lap to grab a thrilling victory. American Kate Douglass took silver while McKeown took the bronze after Walsh, who had finished third, was disqualified.
McIntosh was able to enjoy another of her casual strolls around the pool, waving to her fans with a gold medal around her neck. “It’s pretty surreal. I’m just so proud of myself of how I’ve been able to recover and manage the events because it is a lot,” said the teenager. Hungary’s Kristof Milak claimed his country’s second swimming gold of these Games with victory in the men’s 100m butterfly. Canada’s Josh Liendo took silver while his compatriot Ilya Kharun claimed bronze. It was the second time this week that the Hungarians have been celebrating at La Defense Arena after Hubert Kos took gold in the 200m backstroke.
Milak was a silver medallist in the same event in Tokyo and also took silver in the 200m fly behind Leon Marchand this week. He now has two career golds in the fly, adding to his 200m success three years ago. In the mixed 4x100m medley relay, the USA took gold with a world record time to eclipse China and Australia. Their team of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske touched in 3min 37.43sec to narrowly better the mark set by Britain at the Tokyo Games. In the semi-finals of the women’s 50m freestyle, Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem set a new Olympic record with her swim of 23.66, the third-fastest time in history.
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