Already rated one of swimming’s all-time greats coming into the Paris Olympics, Katie Ledecky made it official on Saturday by storming to victory in her signature event, the 800 metres freestyle to end her work in the French capital in grand style.
French torpedo Leon Marchand may be the prince of Paris, electrifying the home nation with four spectacular gold medals.
But it is Ledecky leaving Paris sharing the throne of greatest female Olympian with Larisa Latynina after winning a ninth gold medal to equal the Russian gymnast’s record.”The week was kind of, you know, had its ups and downs like any other meet,” said Ledecky, whose Paris haul also included gold in the 1,500, silver in the 4×200 freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m free.
“I knew I just had to focus on the races, don’t focus on times, just focus on getting the job done, getting to hear the national anthem at the end of the races as many times as I could.”
In sharp contrast to Ledecky’s runaway win in the 1,500m the 800m freestyle was a thriller from start to finish, with Ariarne Titmus matching her stroke-for-stroke for almost the entire distance.
