Katie Ledecky said Saturday she would like to swim at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after winning her fourth straight 800m freestyle title and ninth career gold, the most ever won by an athlete in any sport .
The 27-year-old superstar hit the wall in 8min 11.04sec, ahead of Australia’s Ariarne Titmus (8:12.29) and American Paige Madden (8:13.00).
It was Ledecký’s 14th Olympic medal, the victory in La Defense Arena once again rewrote the history books.
Her ninth gold tied her level with Soviet-era artistic gymnast Larisa Latynina as the only woman to collect as many titles.
Asked later if she plans to be at her home Olympics in 2028, she replied: “I would love to, we’ll see.
“It’s not easy,” she added. “I’ll take it year by year and see. Give it everything I’ve got while I’ve got it left in me.”
The greatest distance swimmer the sport has seen, she has already won the 1500m in Paris and won silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m freestyle.
No other swimmer has won gold in four different Olympics.
Ledecky set off quickly and was slightly ahead of Titmus in the first corner. The Aussie stayed on the shoulder for 600 meters until the American started to ease off.
Madden attacked late, but Titmus was able to hold onto the silver as Ledecky raced home.
“I knew Ariarne was going to give me everything she had,” Ledecky said of the 400-meter champion, who also finished second in Tokyo.
“I felt confident coming into it but it was going to be tough no matter what until the finish so I had to hang on in the race and trust myself, trust my training that I know how to race. that event.
“I’m just a little relieved to have my hand on the wall.
Titmus, who will leave Paris with two golds and two silvers, said she has the utmost respect for her arch-rival.
“I told her after the race that she made me a better athlete,” said the Australian, who also won gold in the 4x200m relay and silver in the 200m freestyle.
“I absolutely respect her more than anyone else in the sport. She’s been winning this race since I was 11 and I’ll be 24 next month.
“That’s remarkable. She’s unreal,” she added.
“Now that I’m done I feel the most incredible relief. I’m so proud of my efforts this week, two golds, two silvers.”
Ledecka has dominated long-distance swimming for more than a decade, winning her first gold medal at the 2012 London Games at the age of 15 in the 800m freestyle.
She repeated it four years later in Rio, when her 800m triumph was part of a four-gold raid that included the 200m and 400m free. At the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, Ledecka captured her third straight 800m free gold and won the 1500m free, the first time she was added to the Olympic women’s program.
