The Team USA swimmer chats with the comedian and actress about what the Olympics mean to her.
American swimmer Katie Ledecky is already considered one of the greatest swimmers of all time. She's competed in four Olympics, earning 10 medals through the Tokyo Olympics, including six individual medals.
But she's not done. She has already earned a gold medal in 1500m freestyle event and earned a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is scheduled to compete in two more events.
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Ledecky's first event in the 2024 Olympics was the 400m freestyle final on July 26, where she won her eleventh overall medal. She finished with a time of time of 4:00.86.
Her second event in Paris was the 1500m freestyle final, where she won gold and set a new Olympic record with a time of 15:30:02.
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By winning the gold on July 31 in the 1500m free, Ledecky is now tied with swimming Jenny Thompson for the most Olympic gold medals by an American woman. She also tied the record for the most medals won by an American woman in Olympic history with 12.
Ledecky is taking each race in Paris one at a time and looking to stay focused.
"Yeah, just focusing on having a good race each time I swim" Ledecky said ahead of the first medal event. "Just clean races, executing my race plan and good technique."
What events is Katie Ledecky competing in at the Olympics?
Katie Ledecky is expected to compete in four Olympics events in Paris.
- 400m free (earned Bronze)
- 800m free
- 1500m free (earned Gold)
- 4x200m free relay
When does Katie Ledecky swim in the Olympics?
Katie's next medal race will be the women's 4x200m freestyle relay final will be at 4:03 p.m. ET/1:03 p.m. PT on Thursday, Aug. 1.
The women's 800m freestyle final will occur at 3:08 p.m. ET/12:08 p.m. PT on Saturday, Aug. 3.
Where can I watch Katie Ledecky swim? How can I watch Katie Ledecky?
The majority of Katie Ledecky's events will be on NBC and all of them will be available on Peacock.
Where does Katie Ledecky live?
Ledecky is from Bethesda, Maryland, beloved in the area and from the same state as fellow Olympics legend Michael Phelps.
"We really appreciate all the support, we feel their energy for sure," Ledecky said about the messages of support from back in Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area.
Ledecky currently resides in Gainesville, Florida.
Her father, David, was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens, New York and Greenwich, Connecticut. Her mother, Mary Gen, is from North Dakota and swam at the University of Mexico.
What Olympic medals did Katie Ledecky get in the past?
- 2012: 800m freestyle gold
- 2016: 200m free gold
- 2016: 400m free gold
- 2016: 800m free gold
- 2016: 4x200m free relay gold
- 2016: 4x100m free relay silver
- 2020: 800m free gold
- 2020: 1500m free gold
- 2020: 400m free silver
- 2020: 4x200m free relay silver
She is also a 21-time world champion and 26-time world medalist, both women swimmer records.
What records could Katie Ledecky set in Paris?
- With three total Paris medals, Ledecky would become the most decorated U.S. woman in Olympic history, surpassing Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin - who each have 12 medals
- With an eighth gold medal, one more than she has entering Paris, Ledecky would tie Jenny Thompson for the most gold medals ever by an American woman
- With a ninth gold medal, two more than she had entering Paris, she would set a record for the most gold medals ever by an American woman
- With a tenth gold medal, three more than she had entering Paris, she would set the record for most gold medals by a woman athlete and follow Michael Phelps as the only athlete to win 10 Olympic gold medals
- If Ledecky wins gold in the 800m free, she would become the first woman to win the same individual event at four different Olympics and just the second swimmer to do so after Michael Phelps, who was dominant in the 200m IM
Ledecky was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden in May 2024.
Katie Ledecky's career and journey to Paris
Perhaps the greatest freestyle swimmer history, Ledecky heads to her fourth Olympics in a familiar role.
A gold-medal favorite. The focus of so much attention. The template for sustained excellence.
“Such a big influence,” said fellow American swimmer Erin Gemmell, who has looked up to Ledecky much of her life and will be joining her as an Olympic teammate. “I don’t think I would really be here if it weren’t for her.”
Gemmell's father used to coach Ledecky. Young Erin once dressed up as Ledecky for Halloween. They've spent so much time together at the pool, Gemmell has had a unique perspective on Ledecky's tedious brilliance.
“It’s really special to be able to be that close to someone who is so inspirational, getting to see the day-to-day work that they put in,” Gemmell said. “It makes it seem more achievable, in a way, being so close. It makes them seem a lot more human.”
Ledecky isn't as dominant as she once was, but she'll definitely be the swimmer to beat in the two longest freestyle events, covering 800 and 1,500 meters. She already has six individual gold medals, the most of any female swimmer in Olympic history.
“Every athlete, as they get older, has to learn new ways to set goals, learn new ways to evaluate the results,” Ledecky said.
In many ways, she's still driven by her very first Olympic games, where she burst on the scene at 15 with a gold medal in the 800 freestyle. She provides further perspective on that experience in her new book, “Just Add Water, My Swimming Life."
“I wanted to get back to that level, prove that I wasn’t just a one-hit wonder," Ledecky said. “At the same time, I reminded myself that anything more than that is just like icing on the cake, the cherry on top, because, I just never thought I’d make it to that one Olympics.”
All these years later, after all those trips to the top of the medal podium, she feels much the same way.
“That’s the perspective that I’ve be able to maintain and that keeps me focused and keeps me enjoying the sport so much, enjoying the teammates and the people that are around me," Ledecky said.
She's an old soul, for sure.
Even in her teens, Ledecky had young swimmers looking up to her.
“I was definitely an annoying child,” Gemmell said, grinning. “But I think she was just so welcoming to a little 7-year-old fan. When I think about it, she was only a sophomore in high school at the time. I think if someone had acted like that towards me when I was a sophomore in high school, I would have been really weirded out. But she was kind and welcoming with all of it.”
Eight years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Ledecky turned in one of the greatest performance in swimming history.
She took gold in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle with a pair of world records (the 1,500 was not yet an Olympic event for women, or she undoubtedly would've won that, too). For good measure, she anchored the U.S. to a gold in the 4x200 free relay with a time that was more than a second faster than anyone else in the final.
Five years later in Tokyo, the rest of the world began to catch up in the shorter races. For the first time, she was beaten in an individual race when Australia's Ariarne Titmus took gold in the 400. Ledecky didn't even reach the podium in the 200, settling for fifth.
Ledecky doesn't plan to swim the 200 free in Paris even though she won that event at the U.S. Olympic trials. She was a definite underdog in the 400 free, where Titmus and Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh appeared to have the upper hand before the race. Ultimately, Titmus took gold and McIntosh silver in the race.
True to form, Ledecky shrugs off her rivals. She's always looking inward, seeking ways to improve, and that monthlong gap between the trials and the Olympics is her favorite time of all. She can retreat to the anonymity of the training pool, where she feels most at home.
“My goals are not to be the first person to do this, to be the first person to do that and join this person and this person as the only ones that have done this,” Ledecky said. “My goals are very time focused and splits focused and technically focused.”
