At the 2024 Paris Games, Katie Ledecky was a clear favorite in the women’s 1500m freestyle. As a dominant long-distance swimmer who holds the 19 fastest times ever in this event and won gold in its Olympic debut in Tokyo, the only question was how much she would win by.
Ledecky finished with a time of 15:30.02, setting a new Olympic record and finishing ten seconds ahead of the next competitor. This victory marked her eighth Olympic gold medal, tying her with Jenny Thompson for the most golds by an American woman. She also matched Thompson, Natalie Coughlin, and Dara Torres with 12 career Olympic medals, the most by any U.S. woman.
After the race, Ledecky reflected on her achievement, saying, “I try not to focus too much on history. I know the names of the people I’m now alongside—those who inspired me when I began swimming. It’s an honor to be mentioned with them. I’m grateful for their influence and support, which has helped me reach this point.”
### FULL RESULTS
In a surprising start to the swim session at the Paris 2024 Games, Natalie Coughlin was on hand to officially open the event with the traditional "les trois coups" ceremony.
The 1500m freestyle race unfolded as anticipated. By the 500m mark, Katie Ledecky was 0.11 seconds ahead of her own world record, which she initially set in 2013 and has since broken five times.
While Ledecky maintained a commanding lead, the battle for second place was fiercely contested. France’s Anastasia Kirpichnikova, Italy’s Simona Quadarella, and Germany’s Isabel Gose were locked in a tight race.
With 400m to go, Ledecky had slipped six seconds behind her world-record pace but remained ahead of the Olympic-record pace. Demonstrating her dominance, she consistently recorded lap times in the 31-second range. Kirpichnikova held a secure second place, while Quadarella and Gose continued their fight for bronze.
As Ledecky entered the final lap, the only question was whether she could set a new Olympic record. The crowd cheered loudly as she touched the wall, finishing with a time of 15:30.02—her eighth-fastest time in her career for this distance.
In the end, Kirpichnikova secured the silver medal, and Gose took bronze with a time of 15:41.16.
Having already won bronze in the women’s 400m freestyle, Ledecky’s next chance for a medal will come in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay on Thursday. If successful, she would earn her 13th career Olympic medal, surpassing all female U.S. Olympians in history and trailing only Michael Phelps, who holds 28 medals overall.
Ledecky’s next individual event is the women’s 800m freestyle. The preliminary heats are scheduled for Friday, August 2nd, with the final set for Saturday, August 3rd.