Paris (AFP) – The records keep piling up for American swimmer Katie Ledecky, and the bad news for her challengers is that she has no plans to relinquish her throne. If there were any doubts that Ledecky was still queen of the pool in her fourth Olympic Games, she swept them aside with her two gold medals at La Defense Arena. The 27-year-old’s win in the 1500m freestyle felt a formality — she finished more than 10 seconds clear of silver medallist Anastasiia Kirpichnikova.
But having lost to Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 400m free in both Tokyo and Paris, her dominance in the 800m event felt slightly more in doubt. However, for all Titmus’s determination over the 16 laps, Ledecky won by just over a second for her fourth straight gold in the event. Ledecky has nine gold medals during her Olympic career — no woman has more in any sport; only Soviet-era gymnast Larisa Latynina has as many.
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“I think she’s rewritten distance freestyle and just swimming in general,” said her teammate and 800m free bronze medallist Paige Madden. Ledecky has 14 Olympic medals in total and 21 world championship golds, but while most swimmers are ready to leave behind the daily grind of training and preparation at her age, she shows no such inclination. Asked after her race whether she would go for a fifth straight gold in 800m at the LA Games, Ledecky said: “I’d love to.”
In the build-up to the event, she had stated that her aim was to continue for another four-year Olympic cycle. “I’ve been consistent over these last few months and the last few years in saying that I would love to compete in LA, and that hasn’t changed,” she said. “I just take it year by year at this point.”
What persuades most swimmers to finally call it a day is the grueling daily routine — the early morning sessions, the relentless work away from the adrenaline rush of major competition. But this is where Ledecky is different from most. “I probably enjoy the training more than the racing,” she said after her latest triumph. “Honestly, if I could go back to training on September 1 and just train all fall, I’d be one happy camper.”
“It just brings me so much joy to be around my teammates and just see their improvement, see the work that they put in. We just have so much fun on the side — in the weight room, when we’re resting on the wall, things like that.”
There is another factor that is pushing Ledecky towards four more years of work — the chance to end her career in front of a home crowd in LA. Ledecky has witnessed the passionate Parisian support for French star Leon Marchand and heard the roars, even in the heats, for every home swimmer. “Just seeing the kind of support that the French athletes are getting here, I think all of the US athletes are thinking about how cool that could be in Los Angeles, having the home crowd. That would be amazing to be able to compete there,” she said.
Ledecky has been careful to caveat her enthusiasm for competing in California in 2028 with reminders that sport is unpredictable and plans can change. “It’s not easy,” she said. “I’ll take it year by year and give it everything I’ve got for as long as I have left in me.”
She may decide to skip the 400m freestyle in the future, having missed out on gold in Tokyo and Paris, and while the sight of a 31-year-old in the pool remains rare, Ledecky has surely proven she is an exception. Personable and candid, the American is experienced enough to know how to avoid unwanted headlines and narratives, but in the celebrations after her 1500m gold, she gave the biggest clue to her intentions. “I don’t feel like I’m close to being finished in the sport yet,” she said.
© 2024 AFP
