NANTERRE, France — Bethesda native Katie Ledecky has tied one of swimming’s most impressive records.
Chances are, she’ll have it all to herself by the time she completes the Paris Olympics.
The 27-year-old Ledecky bumped her career total to 12 medals with a dominating victory in the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday night, equaling three fellow Americans - Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson - for the most ever by a female swimmer.
Ledecky won her first gold in London when she was just 15.
“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,” Ledecky said after winning the 1,500.
She is expected to compete in the final of the 4x200 freestyle relay on Thursday. The U.S. took silver in that event at the Tokyo Games after winning gold in the two previous Olympics, so that seems like a pretty sure bet for lucky medal No. 13.
Ledecky will be going for her fourth straight gold medal in the 800 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 800.”
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.
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