.jpg)
Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky (/ləˈdɛki/ lə-DEK-ee; born March 17, 1997)[6] is an American competitive swimmer. She has won nine Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. With 14 medals and 9 gold medals, she is also the most decorated American woman, most decorated female swimmer, the woman with the most gold medals (tied with Larisa Latynina) and fifth-most decorated athlete in Olympic history. She has won a record 16 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships.[7] Ledecky's 10 individual medals at the Olympics and 26 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are records in women's swimming. Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle (both long course and short course), as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle (long course). She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. She is widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.[8][9][10]
In her international debut at the 2012 London Olympic Games as a 15-year-old, Ledecky unexpectedly won the gold medal in the women's 800-metre freestyle. Four years later, she left Rio de Janeiro as the most decorated female athlete of the 2016 Olympic Games, with four gold medals, one silver medal, and two world records. At the 2020 Olympic Games, Ledecky emerged as the most decorated U.S. female athlete and became the first American female swimmer to win an individual event in three straight Olympiads.[11] In 2023, she won gold in the 800 meter World Championship, becoming the first swimmer—male or female—to win six World Championship gold medals in the same event.[12] In total, she has won 50 medals (38 golds, 10 silvers, and 2 bronzes) in major international competitions, spanning the Summer Olympics, World Championships, and Pan Pacific Championships. During her career, she has broken sixteen world records.
Ledecky's success has earned her Swimming World's Female World Swimmer of the Year a record five times. Ledecky was also named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 2017 and 2022, international female Champion of Champions by L'Équipe in 2014 and 2017, United States Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Year in 2013, 2016 and 2017, Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation in 2017, and the ESPY Best Female Athlete in 2022.[13] In 2024, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.[14][15]
- ^ Sandys, Toni L. (July 21, 2021). "How Katie Ledecky swims faster than the rest of the world". Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ^ Crouse, Karen (March 26, 2018). "Katie Ledecky Turns Pro After Dominating College Swimming". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
unclewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "LEDECKY Katie". Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
- ^ a b "Katie Ledecky". TeamUSA.org. United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on September 29, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
- ^ "LEDECKY Katie". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
- ^ Sterling, Wayne (July 29, 2023). "Katie Ledecky overtakes Michael Phelps for most individual world titles". CNN. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "Greatest swimmer of all time: a ranked list of the best swimmers ever". SportsBrief. January 18, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ "How Katie Ledecky Became the Greatest Distance Swimmer of All Time". MySwimPro. July 20, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
- ^ Brennan, Christine (July 29, 2023). "Shattering Michael Phelps' Record, Katie Ledecky Shows Why She's The Greatest". USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ Lohn, John (July 31, 2022). "Ledecky Johns Elite Company With Third Straight Title in 800 Freestlye". Swimming World. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
- ^ Wade, Stephen (July 29, 2023). "Katie Ledecky passes Michael Phelps for most individual golds at world championships". ABC News.
- ^ Roxanna Scott, "Katie Ledecky wins Female Athlete of the Olympic Games", USA Today (September 29, 2016). Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ^ Schad, Tom (May 3, 2024). "Katie Ledecky, Jim Thorpe among 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients by Joe Biden". USA Today.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page).