Ledecky dominates 1,500m again for record-tying 12th Olympic medal
27-year-old matches most medals won by female swimmer
Katie Ledecky romped to the seventh individual Olympic gold medal — she has one team gold in a relay — and 12th medal overall with a runaway victory in the 1,500-metre freestyle Wednesday at the Paris Games.
The 27-year-old Ledecky tied fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson for the most medals ever by a female swimmer. Ledecky already held the mark for most individual gold medals by a woman with seven; she's got eight golds overall counting a relay victory.
Ledecky led right from the start and steadily pulled away, touching in an Olympic-record 15 minutes, 30.02 seconds in an event that joined the women's program at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
France's Anastasiia Kirpichinikova finished nearly a half lap behind but thrilled the home fans by claiming the silver in 15:40.35.
The bronze went to Germany's Isabel Gose at 15:41.16.
After starting the Paris Games with a bronze in the 400 freestyle, this result looked more familiar for Ledecky.
She was clearly thrilled to be on top again, splashing the water and pumping her fist several times walking across the deck — a rare show of emotion for a stoic athlete who performs with machine-like efficiency.
What's next for Ledecky?
Having won her first gold when she was just 15 at her Olympic debut at London 2012, Ledecky has a lot left to give.
"It's not easy, it doesn't get any easier, so I do try to enjoy it each year and there's different perspective that I have different years and different challenges that you face each year," she said after winning the 1,500m.
She will be going for her fourth straight gold medal in the 800m freestyle, with the preliminaries set for Friday morning and the final to follow Saturday next evening.
"I have the relay tomorrow, that's my next focus," she said after the race. "Then, I'll think about the 800m."
The American star now has eight gold medals in her career, seven of them coming in individual races. She came into these games already holding the record for the most individual golds by a female swimmer.
