Team USA picked up four more medals on Day 5 of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Katie Ledecky earned the Americans' fifth gold medal of the Games by repeating as champion in the women's 1500m freestyle on Wednesday. The star American swimmer dominated the competition -- breaking her own Olympic record in the process -- as she joined exclusive company with her eighth gold medal and 12th total medal.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
The Day 5 action saw fellow U.S. swimmer Torri Huske add to her Paris medal haul as well. And the Americans also made the podium in BMX freestyle and snapped a medal drought in canoe slalom.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
Here's a full look back at those medal triumphs and other top moments from Day 5 of the Games:
Katie Ledecky makes history with dominant 1500m free win
Katie Ledecky continued to own the women's 1500m freestyle. The star swimmer cruised to her second straight gold medal in the event, which debuted at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.
Ledecky finished over 10 seconds ahead of silver medalist Anastasiya Kirpichnikova of France, breaking her own Olympic record in the process with a time of 15:30.02. The Bethesda, Maryland, native now owns the 20 fastest times in the event.
That's not all, either. Ledecky moved into a tie for the most gold medals and total medals among American woman in Olympic history. Her eight golds are tied with Jenny Thompson and she joined Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin with 12 medals overall.
Ledecky, who also earned a 400m free bronze earlier in the 2024 Games, can still make more history in Paris. She's just one gold medal away from tying Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina's all-time record among female Olympians at nine.
Perris Benegas makes BMX freestyle podium
Team USA had an athlete make the women's BMX freestyle podium, but it wasn't who many were expecting. Perris Benegas scored a 90.70 on her second and final run to secure silver in the event, marking her first Olympic medal.
The Reno, Nevada, native was only topped by China's Deng Yawen, who was the only rider in the final to score at least a 90 on both of her runs. Yawen's second run of 92.60 proved to be the winner.
Gold medal favorite and reigning silver medalist Hannah Roberts of Team USA fell during both of her runs en route to a seven-place finish.
Torri Huske adds to Paris medal haul in 100m free
Torri Huske is racking up the medals in Paris. The Arlington, Virginia, native made the podium once again by finishing second in the women's 100m freestyle.
Huske's time of 52.29 seconds just beat out Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey, who finished in 52.33. Sweden's Sarah Sjöström won gold with a time of 52.16.
Huske entered the Paris Games with one Olympic medal, but she's now up to four. She also won gold in the 100m butterfly and silver in the 4x100m freestyle.
Evy Leibfarth snaps US medal drought in canoe slalom
The U.S. hadn't won an Olympic canoe slalom event since the 2004 Athens Games. But an athlete who was born in 2004 wound up helping the Americans snap their medal drought.
Evy Leibfarth went from the lowest seed in the women's C-1 final to the event's bronze medalist, marking her first Olympic medal. The Bryson City, North Carolina, native posted a time of 109.95, good for third behind Australian reigning champion Jessica Fox (101.06) and Germany's Elena Lilik (103.54).
US men's basketball rolls past South Sudan and into quarterfinals
Team USA's men's basketball team nearly lost to South Sudan in an exhibition game earlier this month. But the two teams' Olympic showdown played out much differently.
The U.S. secured a second lopsided victory in as many contests in Paris, taking down South Sudan 103-86 to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals. While head coach Steve Kerr made two starting lineup changes, the story of the game proved to be Team USA's bench. Bam Adebayo posted a team-high 18 points off the bench, while Kevin Durant (14 points), Anthony Edwards (13 points) and Derrick White (10 points) also scored in double figures.
LeBron James tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Steph Curry, who recorded three points and four assists, had an off shooting night, missing eight of his nine attempts from the field.
Before entering the knockout stage, the U.S. will close out group play against Puerto Rico on Saturday.
USWNT enters knockout round unbeaten
In a rematch of the bronze medal match from the Tokyo Games, the USWNT closed out group play with a win over Australia. Trinity Rodman opened the scoring off a feed from Sophia Smith in the 43rd minute before Korbin Albert padded the Americans' lead with a long-distance strike in the 77th minute.
The Aussies scored in stoppage time, but the Americans held on for a 2-1 win to remain unbeaten in Paris. After a 3-0 run in group play, the USWNT will face Japan in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Japan went 2-1 in group play, beating Brazil and Nigeria while losing to Spain.
France's Léon Marchand pulls off historic swimming double
France's Léon Marchand showed why he's drawing comparisons to legendary swimmer Michael Phelps. After earning his first Olympic medal with a 400m IM gold earlier in the Games, Marchand added two more individual titles in a span of less than two hours on Day 5.
First, Marchand rallied to beat world-record holder and defending Olympic champion Kristóf Milák in a thrilling finish to the men's 200m butterfly. He set an Olympic record in the process with a time of 1:51.71, just barely beating out Milák (1:51.75).
And shortly after his comeback victory, Marchand jumped back into the pool and cruised to a win in the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:05.85, touching the wall nearly a full second faster than second-place Zac Stubblety-Cook of Australia.
The 22-year-old Marchand became the first swimmer since 1976 and just the fourth overall to win two individual Olympic swimming medals in one day.
China's Pan Zhanle breaks first world record of Paris Games
The 2024 Games hadn't seen any world records get broken until the men's 100m freestyle, where China's Pan Zhanle stormed to gold. Zhanle broke his own world-record time of 46.80 seconds, which he set this past February, by finishing the final in 46.40 seconds.
