PARIS — Katie Ledecky won the women’s 800-meter freestyle for an unprecedented fourth time at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, earning her record-tying ninth gold medal overall.
The American great touched the wall in 8 minutes 11.04 seconds at La Defense Arena, beating silver medalist Ariarne Titmus of Australia by 1.25 seconds.
Paige Madden won the bronze medal for the United States.
Ledecky’s ninth gold medal in four Olympics puts her in line with former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals ever won by a female Olympic athlete.
She also joined fellow American great Michael Phelps as the only swimmers to win four Olympic gold medals in the same event.
The 27-year-old Ledecky also won gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle earlier this week. She won her first gold medal in London in 2012, then went on to win four more in Rio and two more in Tokyo.
–Special to Field Level Media, Reuters
