Katie Ledecky just won another gold medal at the Paris Olympics, breaking the record for most golds by any American female swimmer.
The 27-year-old had a historic 800-meter freestyle swim on Aug. 3, coming in first for her final event at the Paris Games. She finished ahead of Australia’s Ariarne Titmus and Team USA's Paige Madden, who won silver and bronze, respectively.
Ledecky's ninth gold marks her 14th overall Olympic medal, tying with Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most golds for a female Olympian ever.
The win also caused Ledecky to surpass swimmer Jenny Thompson's record for most Olympic gold medals won by an American female swimmer.
In any Olympic sport, she became the sixth athlete worldwide to win four golds in the same individual event, joining Denmark's Paul Elvstroem; America's Al Oerter, Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps; and Cuba's Mijain Lopez.
Earlier this week, Ledecky became the most decorated female Olympic swimmer of all time when she won silver as part of the U.S. 4x200 freestyle relay team on Aug. 1.
Ledecky, alongside Claire Weinstein, Madden and Erin Gemmell, won silver in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay Aug. 1, finishing just shy of Australia.
In the final 100 meters of the third leg, Ledecky passed China's relay team, moving Team USA from third place and firmly into second.
Thursday's win brings her total medal count at the Paris Games to four.
How many Olympic medals does Katie Ledecky have?
As of Aug. 3, Ledecky, a four-time Olympian, has won 14 medals, nine of them gold.
In Paris she collected all four medals: two gold, one silver and one bronze.
For the other gold medal, Ledecky beat out France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova and Germany’s Isabel Gose in the 1500-meter freestyle July 31 by more than 10 seconds. She also set a new Olympic record with her 15:30.02 time.
She tied Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin's record for most Olympic medals won by a female swimmer July 31 — which she surpassed Thursday after winning her 13th medal.
Ledecky won a bronze medal July 27 in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. In the event, which some news outlets had dubbed the "race of the century," Ledecky finished behind Australia’s Ariarne Titmus and Canada's Summer McIntosh.
Ledecky made her debut at the 2012 London Olympics and won gold in the 800-meter freestyle at age 15.
While she's officially the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history, Ledecky had told Stephanie Gosk on TODAY in June that she doesn't focus on records in her career.
“I never thought that I would even make one Olympics when I first started swimming, let alone have the opportunity to go into a fourth,” she said. “So that part is mind-blowing to me. But at the same time, I don’t really focus on the history stuff or medal counts. I’m very focused on each individual swim, and moreso times than places.”
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