PARIS, France — Katie Ledecky capped another stellar Olympics by becoming only the second swimmer to win an event at four straight Summer Games, holding off Ariarne Titmus to win the 800-meter freestyle Saturday night.
It was Ledecky's second gold medal in Paris and ninth of her remarkable career, which marked another milestone. She became only the sixth Olympian to reach that figure, joining swimmer Mark Spitz, track star Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi in a tie for second place.
The only athlete to win more golds: swimmer Michael Phelps with 23.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself," Ledecky said. “I'm just really happy that I could get the job done.”
Ledecky went faster than her winning time in Tokyo, touching in 8 minutes, 11.04 seconds. Titmus, the Australian star known as the “Terminator,” was right on her shoulder nearly the entire race, but Ledecky pulled away in the final 100.
Titmus, who beat Ledecky in the 400 freestyle, settled for silver at 8:12.29. The bronze went to another American, Paige Madden at 8:13.00.
“I knew that it was gonna be a tough race and I felt confident coming into it,” Ledecky said. “But I knew it was going to be tough no matter what, all the way down to the finish. So I just had to stick in the race, trust myself, trust my training, trust that I know the hungry side of that. And, yeah, I am just kind of relieved.”
Phelps had been the only swimmer to win the same event at four straight Olympics, taking gold in the 200 individual medley at Athens, Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro.
Now he’s got company.
Ledecky claimed her first gold with a surprise victory in the 800 free as a 15-year-old at the 2012 Olympics.
Ledecky was thinking about that first gold before she dove in for No. 9 — which came 12 years to the day of her breakout performance in London.
“One is the one that kind of means the most to me,” she said. “I knew that August 3rd is the day I won in 2012 and I didn’t want August 3rd to be a day that I didn’t keep moving forward.”
No to worry. She has dominated the grueling race ever since — and isn’t done yet.
Ledecky has made it clear she plans to keep swimming at least through the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“It’s not easy,” she said. “I’ll take it year by year, and we’ll see if I can keep giving everything I’ve got for as long as I have left in me.”
