Current:Home > BackKatie Ledecky swims into history with 800 freestyle victory at the Paris Olympics-InfoLens
Katie Ledecky swims into history with 800 freestyle victory at the Paris Olympics
View Date:2024-12-23 21:08:57
Live updates: Follow AP’s coverage of the 2024 Olympics in Paris as Americans Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson and Katie Ledecky all win medals.
NANTERRE, France (AP) — Katie Ledecky capped another stellar Olympics by becoming only the second swimmer to win an event at four straight Summer Games, holding off Ariarne Titmus to win the 800-meter freestyle Saturday night.
It was Ledecky’s second gold medal in Paris and ninth of her remarkable career, which marked another milestone. She became only the sixth Olympian to reach that figure, joining swimmer Mark Spitz, track star Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi in a tie for second place.
The only athlete to win more golds: swimmer Michael Phelps with 23.
Ledecky went faster than her winning time in Tokyo, touching in 8 minutes, 11.04 seconds. Titmus, the Australian star known as the “Terminator,” was right on her shoulder nearly the entire race, but Ledecky pulled away in the final 100.
Titmus, who beat Ledecky in the 400 freestyle, settled for silver at 8:12.29. The bronze went to another American, Paige Madden at 8:13.00.
Phelps had been the only swimmer to win the same event at four straight Summer Olympics, taking gold in the 200 individual medley at Athens, Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro.
Now he’s got company.
Ledecky claimed her first gold with a surprise victory in the 800 free as a 15-year-old at the 2012 London Games. She has dominated the grueling race ever since — and isn’t done yet.
Ledecky has made it clear she plans to keep swimming at least through the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Another gold for Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh
Summer McIntosh stamped herself as one of the swimming stars of the Paris Olympics with her third individual gold medal.
The 17-year-old Canadian chased down American Alex Walsh and held off another U.S. swimmer, Kate Douglass, to finish in an Olympic record of 2:06.56.
Douglass grabbed the silver in the star-studded final at 2:06.92, but the Americans lost the bronze when Walsh, the silver medalist in this event at Tokyo who recorded a time of 2:07.06, was disqualified because she did not finish the backstroke segment on her back.
Paris Olympics
- Algerian boxer Imane Khelif clinches a medal in women’s boxing after outcry fueled by gender misconceptions
- Simone Biles wins another gold, and Sha’Carri Richardson and Katie Ledecky also seek big wins today.
- Meanwhile, this millennia-old port city is hosting Olympic sailing.
- See AP’s top photos from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
- Check out the Olympic schedule of events and follow all of AP’s coverage of the Summer Games.
- Take a look at the AP’s Olympics medal tracker and list of athletes who won today.
- Want more? Sign up for our daily Postcards from Paris newsletter.
McKeown, who touched fourth, was bumped up to the bronze at 2:08.08.
It was a bitter blow for Walsh, whose younger sister, Gretchen, has won a gold medal and two silvers in Paris.
McIntosh set several world records ahead of the Paris Olympics, and she backed up the enormous expectations by claiming a starring role at La Defense Arena along with Léon Marchand and Ledecky.
McIntosh also won gold medals in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM, plus a silver in the 400 freestyle. She fell just 0.88 seconds — the margin of her loss to Ariarne Titmus — shy of matching Marchand’s four individual golds.
U.S. sets world record in mixed relay
The United States made up for a disappointing showing in Tokyo by setting a world record in the 4x100 mixed medley relay.
Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske held off China for a winning time of 3:37.43, breaking the mark of 3:37.58 set by Britain when it won gold in the wild and woolly event’s Olympic debut three years ago.
With each team picking two men and two women, the U.S. and China both went with their male swimmers in the first two legs.
Murphy put the U.S. in front on the backstroke, China’s Qin Haiyang slipped past Nic Fink on the breaststroke, but Walsh put the Americans back in front on the butterfly before Huske held off Yang Junxuan to secure the gold.
The Chinese team, which also included Xu Jiayu and Zhang Yufei, took silver in 3:37.55. The bronze went to Australia in 3:38.76.
Marchand swam the breaststroke leg for France but couldn’t add to his already impressive haul of four individual golds. The French finished fourth, more than two seconds behind the Aussies.
When the British won gold in 2021, the Americans finished fifth. Britain was seventh this time.
The U.S. bumped its total to six golds, one behind leading Australia with four events remaining Sunday. The Americans are assured of winning the overall medal count with 25.
Hungarian claims butterfly gold
Kristóf Milák of Hungary won the men’s 100 butterfly, chasing down three swimmers on the return lap.
Milák was only fourth at the turn, but he rallied to touch in 49.90. Canada grabbed the silver and bronze, with Josh Liendo finishing in 49.99 and Ilya Kharun next at 50.45.
Milák had failed to defend his Olympic title in the 200 butterfly, settling for a silver behind French star Marchand.
Milák claimed silver in the 100 fly three years ago, but he didn’t have to worry about the guy who beat him in that race. American Caeleb Dressel stunningly failed to qualify for the final, posting only the 13th-fastest time in the semifinals Friday.
Kharun added another bronze to the one he garnered in the 200 butterfly.
___
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
veryGood! (347)
Related
- Love Is Blind’s Chelsea Blackwell Reacts to Megan Fox’s Baby News
- Olympic Skier Lindsey Vonn Coming Out of Retirement at 40
- Halle Berry Rocks Sheer Dress She Wore to 2002 Oscars 22 Years Later
- US wholesale inflation picks up slightly in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio charged with operating vehicle while intoxicated
- NFL Week 11 picks straight up and against spread: Will Bills hand Chiefs first loss of season?
- UFC 309: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic fight card, odds, how to watch, date
- Jake Paul's only loss led him to retool the team preparing him to face Mike Tyson
- School workers accused of giving special needs student with digestive issue hot Takis, other abuse
- It's Red Cup Day at Starbucks: Here's how to get your holiday cup and cash in on deals
Ranking
- Queen Elizabeth II's Final 5-Word Diary Entry Revealed
- After years of unrest, Commanders have reinvented their culture and shattered expectations
- Justice Department says jail conditions in Georgia’s Fulton County violate detainee rights
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long record of promoting anti-vaccine views
- Report: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence could miss rest of season with shoulder injury
- Giuliani’s lawyers after $148M defamation judgment seek to withdraw from his case
- Medical King recalls 222,000 adult bed assistance rails after one reported death
- Olympic Skier Lindsey Vonn Coming Out of Retirement at 40
Recommendation
-
Best fits for Corbin Burnes: 6 teams that could match up with Cy Young winner
-
Vermont man is fit to stand trial over shooting of 3 Palestinian college students
-
Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
-
Japan to resume V-22 flights after inquiry finds pilot error caused accident
-
‘Emilia Pérez’ wouldn’t work without Karla Sofía Gascón. Now, she could make trans history
-
Kentucky governor says investigators will determine what caused deadly Louisville factory explosion
-
Advocacy group sues Tennessee over racial requirements for medical boards
-
Paraguay vs. Argentina live updates: Watch Messi play World Cup qualifying match tonight