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Katie Ledecky becomes most decorated US female Olympian ever after 4x200 freestyle silver

Wade-Peeryby: Wade Peery08/01/24
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© Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports

Katie Ledecky has already put herself among the greatest swimmers in the history of the sport. She’s only adding to that legacy in the 2024 Olympics. And on Thursday evening, she won yet another silver medal in the 4×200 freestyle, putting herself in even more rarified air. In bringing home the silver, she has now won 13 total medals in her career, more than any other American woman in history.

Ledecky can add it to the near endless number of accomplishments in her career. She’s won eight gold medals, been a 21-time world champion, broken world records 16 times, won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and become a New York Times best-selling author.

Below is the list of medals she has won through the years.

Katie Ledecky career medal list

  • Gold in London 2012, 800-meter freestyle
  • Gold in Rio 2016, 200 meter freestyle
  • Gold in Rio 2016, 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay
  • Gold in Rio 2016, 400 meter freestyle
  • Gold in Rio 2016, 800 meter freestyle
  • Gold in Tokyo 2020, 1500 meter freestyle
  • Gold in Tokyo 2020, 800 meter freestyle
  • Gold in Paris 2024, 1500 meter freestyle
  • Silver in Tokyo 2020, 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay
  • Silver in Tokyo 2020, 400 meter freestyle
  • Silver in Rio 2016, 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay
  • Bronze in Paris 2024, 400 meter freestyle
  • Silver in Paris 2024, 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay

Earlier in the week, she brought home a gold medal in the 1500 meters in Paris. The win in the 1500 meters was the first gold Ledecky has won at these Olympics. She won the inaugural women’s 1500-meter gold three years in Tokyo during the summer games.

“I’m just so honored to represent our country and those women that have set the standard for so many years have inspired me. They inspired me when I first started swimming so thank you to them, thank you to everyone that has supported me all these years,” Ledecky said.

Ledecky has been dominating the sport for literally more than a decade. She’s stacked up so many medals, it’ll be hard for any other women in swimming to ever catch her, that’s for certain. She’s already claimed stake to her rightful place in swimming immortality as one of the all-time greats.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.