Once again, Katie Ledecky won the women’s 1500m freestyle gold on Wednesday, 31 July at Paris La Defense Arena. She broke her own Olympic record along the way, finishing in 15:30.02.

“I was just really happy with the time, honestly. My three swims prior to this, I kept feeling that the time was a lot slower than it felt. That was the first one that felt like it showed in the time. I’m really happy,” Ledecky said after the race.

“I just wanted to swim a time I could be really happy with, and that was the one. It’s never easy to win a gold medal. Just trying to soak in every moment of it.”

Within the first 300m, Ledecky was already a body length in front of her competitors. The race was tighter for the second and third steps on the podium. France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova took the silver in 15:40.35, while Isabel Gose of Germany won the bronze.

With the win, Ledecky now has 12 Olympic medals, including eight gold, to tie American great Jenny Thompson. This was a back-to-back win, as Ledecky won gold at Tokyo 2020 as well, and holds both the world and Olympic records in the 1500m. She won a bronze earlier in the week in the 400m freestyle and will swim again in the 800m freestyle.

Ledecky smashed her old Olympic record from Tokyo 2020 by more than seven seconds. In her fourth Olympics, and at age 27, she continues to improve.

“I try not to think about history very much. I know those names, those people I’m up with. They’re people I looked up to when I first started swimming, so it’s an honour to be named among them. I’m grateful for them inspiring me. There are so many great swimmers that have helped me get to this moment,” she said.

Like so many French swimmers, Kirpichnikova had the loud crowd on her side. She said how much that meant to her.

“It’s incredible. Everyone was screaming when I finished second. I still can’t imagine it. I don’t believe that I am second,” she said after the race.

Swimming: Women’s 1500m podium

Gold: Katie Ledecky, USA

Complete results are available at Olympics.com