USA’s Katie Ledecky wins 13th Olympic medal to set all-time female record

Katie Ledecky has cemented her status as the most decorated female Olympic swimmer of all time, earning her 13th medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. On Thursday night at La Défense Arena, Ledecky and her team secured silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay, with Australia taking gold.

Historic Achievement:

One night after Ledecky, 27, became the first female swimmer to win gold medals at four different Olympics by retaining her 1500m freestyle title, she added another medal to her collection. Her 13th Olympic medal surpasses the records held by fellow Americans Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin, and Australia’s Emma McKeon.

The Relay Race:

The Australian team of Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell, and Ariarne Titmus set an Olympic record with a time of 7:38.08. Ledecky’s powerful third leg lifted teammates Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, and Erin Gemmell from third to second, but they finished 2.78 seconds behind the Australians.

Rising Stars:

The 22-year-old Douglass has shown remarkable versatility since winning bronze in the 200m individual medley during her Olympic debut three years ago. She is anticipated to improve her medal standing in that event later this week. “I feel like it was kind of just a long time coming,” Douglass said. “This whole year I’ve been training and physically preparing for this exact race. Just kind of seeing it all come together and sticking to my race plan, I was just so excited to see that I’d gone first and [broken] an American record too.”