Team USA superstar Katie Ledecky has broken the Olympic record in a golden performance in the women’s 1500m freestyle.
Ledecky has set a world record in the event six times and is unbeaten in the race in her career.
Now, she’s beaten the Olympic record with a time of 15:30:02, 10 seconds ahead of second place Anastasiia Kirpichnikova of France.
The previous record, which Ledecky also set, was 15:35:35.
The 27-year-old now has a total of eight career golds and 12 Olympic medals.
That means she has earned the second-most medals by any swimmer in Olympic history (12). Only Michael Phelps has more (23).
She is also the first female swimmer to win gold medals at four different Olympics.
Her gold ties her with ex-swimmer Jenny Thompson for the most for an American woman.
Incredibly, she now only needs one more gold to tie Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most for any female Olympian.
Her first Olympic gold came up London 2012, before she captured four (200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle and 4×200 freestyle relay) at Rio 2016.
She then won the 800m and 1500m freestyle at Tokyo 2020.
Ledecky was pipped to the gold medal in the 400m freestyle event in Paris by Ariarne Titmus, finishing in bronze.
But she still has two more opportunities at Paris 2024 to win gold.
She will compete in the 4x200m freestyle relay and the 800m freestyle.
Ledecky has now recorded the 20 fastest times in the 1500m freestyle.
Katie Ledecky wins her EIGHTH Olympic gold medal.
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— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 31, 2024
It’s been 14 years since she was beaten in the event – a regional meet in Washington DC when she was a teenager.
The United States now have five gold medals, with the Tokyo 2020 champions currently ranked seventh in the medals table.
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