PARIS — ABOUT AN HOUR and a half after Katie Ledecky won the ninth gold medal of her career — the most by any American woman in Olympic history and tied for the most by any woman from any country — and became the fifth-most decorated Olympic athlete of all-time with 14 total medals, she sat down alone at the press conference for the race’s medalists.
Her fellow medalists in the 800 meter freestyle, Ariarne Titmus and Paige Madden, weren’t quite ready yet, but Ledecky hadn’t seemed to realize that when she walked out. And now every eye in the room was focused firmly on her.
She smiled sheepishly, before looking down and fiddling with her water bottle. Never mind that most of the journalists had come solely to speak to her and hear what she had to say about her historic night, and despite her 12 years of fame and an aura that has grown with every passing year, Ledecky looked desperate to share the spotlight.
All week she had been asked about her legacy, and what her growing list of achievements and records and medals meant. But every time she was quick to say some variation of the same thing. Saturday, even with name etched further in the history books, was no different.
“I really just don’t think about these things very much,” she said, after Titmus and Madden eventually sat down on either side of her. “I really take it one race at a time.”
Although, this time, she did add: “It’s pretty neat.”
EARLIER ON SATURDAY at La Defense Arena, the 27-year-old Ledecky couldn’t help but make herself the center of the attention and to cement her status as one of the sport’s greatest of all time as she closed out her 2024 Olympic campaign with a dominant performance in the 800, her signature event. It was her fourth-straight Olympic gold medal in the race — becoming just the sixth athlete and second swimmer to win that many consecutive golds in the same event.
After touching the wall at 8:11.04, she exchanged hugs with Madden and Titmus — and later revealed she thanked her Australian rival for “making me better” and pushing her every day — before climbing out of the pool. As the fans in the crowd — all of whom, regardless of what country flag they were waving, were on their feet — roared, she stood and waved for a brief moment in recognition of what she had achieved and in gratitude.
Even Titmus couldn’t help but be in awe of what Ledecky had accomplished.
“I was 11 years old when she won her gold in London [in 2012], I was in grade six in primary school, and so that’s just remarkable to me to think that she’s still winning at this level,” Titmus said. “I just have the most incredible respect for her. I know how hard it is to defend a title and to go four in a row is unreal. … I’m happy that she was the one to beat me, [and] to keep her streak alive, because that is just remarkable.”
Ledecky later said her immediate feeling after the race wasn’t glory or triumph, but simply relief.
“Coming into the 800, I just felt a lot of pressure from myself, just from my history of the race,” Ledecky said. “And I knew going into it that it was going to be a really tough race and that everyone in the field was going to throw everything they had at me. I felt confident going into the race, but I knew it was going to be tough, and it definitely played out that way. And yeah, [I] definitely had to give it my all.”
Ledecky had already earned three other medals this week — gold in the 1,500m freestyle (where she also set a new Olympic record), a silver as part of the 4x200m freestyle relay team and a bronze in the ultra-competitive 400m freestyle (in which Titmus won gold) to open competition last Saturday. But this Saturday was her final race in a Games in which she had been one of the faces.
It had been a long week, and build up in the months leading in, and she admitted she was ready for a short break and was eager to spend time with her family. But she said she knew she wouldn’t be out of the water for too long, admitting she would be “one happy camper” if she could return to practice on Sept. 1 and “just train all fall.”
Despite her advanced age by swimming standards, Ledecky has repeatedly made it clear she’s nowhere near done in the sport and has been open about her desire to compete in the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
“I don’t feel like I’m close to being finished in the sport yet,” Ledecky said after winning the 1,500m swim on Wednesday. “I’d love to continue on and just seeing the kind of support that the French athletes are getting here, I think all the U.S. athletes are thinking about how cool that could be in Los Angeles having the home crowd. So that would be amazing to be able to compete there.”
Eventually Ledecky’s decorated career will come to an end, of course, and at that time she will think about everything she achieved. But when asked how she would look back on the history she made on Saturday night decades down the line, she knew it wouldn’t be the medal that she would stand out to her.
“I hope that I’ll look back on it with the same amount of joy and happiness that I feel right now and that I feel every day in training,” Ledecky said. “I feel like not every time wasn’t necessarily what I wanted this week, but I still felt so much joy going out there and racing, and I think that’s what I’m going to remember the most.
“There’s that old quote, old saying, I can’t remember who said it, [but it’s] not about the medals won, [and] people forget their times, but you remember the relationships, you remember the emotions that you feel at these kinds of meets, and that’s definitely what will stick with me.”
