1. Katie Ledecky has won nine Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer.
109 Facts About Katie Ledecky
1. 2.
Katie Ledecky has won a record 16 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships.
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Katie Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle, as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle.
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Katie Ledecky holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events.
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Katie Ledecky is widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
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At the 2020 Olympic Games, Katie Ledecky emerged as the most decorated US female athlete and became the first American female swimmer to win an individual event in three straight Olympiads.
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Katie Ledecky's success has earned her Swimming World Female World Swimmer of the Year a record five times.
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Katie Ledecky was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 2017 and 2022, international female Champion of Champions by L'Equipe 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.
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Katie Ledecky was born in Washington, DC and raised in the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, the daughter of Mary Gen and David Katie Ledecky.
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Katie Ledecky's Czech-born paternal grandfather Jaromir Ledecky arrived in New York City on September 8,1947, as a student.
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Katie Ledecky later became an economist and married an Ashkenazi Jewish woman named Berta Ruth Greenwald in Brooklyn on December 30,1956.
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Katie Ledecky was raised Catholic and continues to practice the faith, often praying the Hail Mary before her races.
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Katie Ledecky's uncle Jon Ledecky is a businessman and a co-owner of the NHL team New York Islanders.
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Katie Ledecky began swimming at the age of six under the influence of her older brother, Michael, and her mother, who swam for the University of New Mexico.
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Katie Ledecky accepted an athletic scholarship to Stanford University, where she swam for coach Greg Meehan's Stanford Cardinal women's swimming team.
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At the 2012 United States Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Katie Ledecky made the Olympic team by placing first in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:19.78, which was over two seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kate Ziegler.
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In Omaha, Katie Ledecky placed third in the 400-meter freestyle and ninth in the 200-meter freestyle.
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At the 750-meter mark, Katie Ledecky was 3.42 seconds ahead of Mireia Belmonte Garcia, and 0.31 seconds under world record pace.
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Katie Ledecky won by 4.13 seconds and just missed the world record by 0.53 seconds.
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Katie Ledecky's gold was the first international medal of her career, earning her the 2012 Best Female Performance of the Year and Breakout Performer of the Year at the Golden Goggle Awards.
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The hard-fought race saw Katie Ledecky overcome Dane Lotte Friis in the final few hundred meters after losing the lead at the 300-meter mark and included a final 50 split of 29.47.
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Katie Ledecky provided the US with an early lead, swimming the first leg in a personal best of 1:56.32.
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Much like the 1500-meter freestyle, Katie Ledecky let Lotte Friis lead most of the race, making a move at the 650-meter mark to eventually win the race by 2.46 seconds.
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Katie Ledecky scored more points than any other swimmer to earn the FINA trophy for best female swimmer of the meet.
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At year's end, Katie Ledecky was named the American Swimmer of the Year and the World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine.
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Katie Ledecky was named the best female swimmer for 2013 by FINA Aquatics World magazine.
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Katie Ledecky began the year by breaking her own world records in the 800- and 1500-meter freestyle at the 2014 Woodlands Swim Team Senior Invitational in June.
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Three days later, Katie Ledecky then broke the world record in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:11.00, bettering her previous mark of 8:13.86.
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At the 2014 US National Championships, the qualifying meet for both the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, Katie Ledecky finished first in the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle.
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At the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Gold Coast, Australia, Katie Ledecky won five gold medals and broke two world records.
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Katie Ledecky almost broke the world record in the 800-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 8:11.35.
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Katie Ledecky became the first woman to win four individual gold medals at a single Pan Pacific Championship.
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Less than an hour later, Katie Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle, swimming under her world record pace for most of the race before touching in at 8:11.35, the second-fastest time ever, to win by 7.52 seconds over New Zealand swimmer Lauren Boyle.
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Swimming the anchor leg, Katie Ledecky erased a 1.2-second deficit going into the final leg of the race, passing Australia's Melanie Schlanger with a 1:54.36 split over the final 200 meters.
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That night, Katie Ledecky lowered the record again, setting the first world record ever at the new Gold Coast Aquatic Center with a time of 3:58.37.
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Katie Ledecky's winning time was over six seconds quicker than American teammate and silver medalist Cierra Runge.
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Katie Ledecky lapped three competitors in the final and finished 27.33 seconds ahead of silver medalist Boyle.
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At year's end, Katie Ledecky was named the World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine.
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At the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, Katie Ledecky won five gold medals and broke three world records.
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Katie Ledecky began the World Championships by winning gold in the 400-meter freestyle in a time of 3:59.13, a new championship record and almost four seconds ahead of her closest competitor.
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Unlike her other races, it was not an easy win for Katie Ledecky, which featured the likes of Missy Franklin and Federica Pellegrini.
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Swimming the anchor leg, Katie Ledecky recorded a split of 1:55.64 and the Americans finished with an aggregate time of 7:45.37.
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Katie Ledecky began 2016 at the Arena Pro Swim Series at Austin.
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At the 2016 United States Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Katie Ledecky won the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyles to qualify for her second Olympic team.
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Katie Ledecky opened the Trials with a win and meet record in the 400-meter freestyle.
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The next day, Katie Ledecky lowered her meet record, winning the 800-meter freestyle final by nearly 10 seconds.
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Katie Ledecky won a second gold in the 200-meter freestyle with a personal best of 1:53.73, beating Sarah Sjostrom by 0.35 seconds.
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Swimming the anchor leg again, Katie Ledecky provided the fastest split of the field to turn a 0.89-second deficit into a 1.84-second victory, stopping the clock at 7:43.03.
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Katie Ledecky won a fourth gold in her final individual event, the 800-meter freestyle.
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Katie Ledecky was the 2nd most decorated Olympian at the 2016 games behind Michael Phelps.
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At the Ohio State Invitational in November 2016, Katie Ledecky lowered her American and US Open marks in the women's 500-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle.
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At the Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Washington, Katie Ledecky earned Swimmer of the Meet honors with four American records as Stanford won its first conference title in four years.
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The next day, Katie Ledecky lowered her own mark again in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:25.15.
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At the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Katie Ledecky helped lead Stanford to its first team title since 1998.
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Katie Ledecky reset her American, NCAA, and US Open records in the 800-yard freestyle relay, 500-yard freestyle, and 400-yard freestyle relay and won a meet-best five race titles overall.
56.
At the 2017 USA Swimming Championships, the qualifying meet for the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, Katie Ledecky won the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, and 800-meter freestyle and earned a spot on six events.
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At the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Katie Ledecky broke the World Aquatics Championships' all-time female gold medal record, winning five golds and one silver to bring her career title total to 14.
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Notably, in the semifinals the day prior, Katie Ledecky recorded the top time in the semifinals with a time of 1:54.69.
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Katie Ledecky achieved this result less than an hour after swimming the 1500-meter freestyle final.
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Swimming the anchor leg, Katie Ledecky recorded a split of 1:54.02, and the Americans finished with an aggregate time of 7:43.39.
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Katie Ledecky concluded the meet with a win in the 800-meter freestyle, her fifth-straight title in the event across Olympics and World Championships.
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Katie Ledecky finished second in the 400-yard individual medley to Eastin, who lowered the record Katie Ledecky set a month earlier at the Pac-12 Championships.
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Katie Ledecky signed with Wasserman sports agent Dan Levy for representation.
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Katie Ledecky made her debut as a professional swimmer on May 16,2018, at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she beat her old world record in the 1500-meter freestyle, setting a new world record of 15:20.48.
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Katie Ledecky signed her first sponsorship deal with TYR Sport, Inc on June 8,2018.
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At the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, Katie Ledecky led all swimmers with three individual titles, winning golds in the 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyle.
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Katie Ledecky took bronze in the 200-meter freestyle and silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle.
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Just over an hour later, Katie Ledecky took third in the 200-meter freestyle, finishing behind Canada's Taylor Ruck and Japan's Rikako Ikee.
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Katie Ledecky concluded the championships with another gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle, winning by a margin of 21.11 seconds.
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At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Katie Ledecky battled illness and withdrew from two events before winning her fourth-straight World Championship title in the 800-meter freestyle.
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The next morning, Katie Ledecky struggled through her preliminary heat of the 1500-meter freestyle despite qualifying first for the event's final.
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Katie Ledecky subsequently announced her withdrawal from the 1500 and 200-meter freestyle due to illness.
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Katie Ledecky returned to competition three days later to swim the final of the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay.
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Katie Ledecky passed Quadarella and pulled away in the final 50 meters to win by 1.41 seconds.
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Katie Ledecky finished third in the Associated Press's Female Athlete of the Decade voting, behind Serena Williams and Simone Biles.
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Katie Ledecky began 2020 at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Des Moines, Iowa, where she won the 200-, 400- and 1500-meter freestyle races.
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Katie Ledecky withdrew from the 800-meter freestyle race due to illness.
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Katie Ledecky did not compete at any other events during 2020.
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Katie Ledecky began 2021 at the TYR Pro Swim Series at San Antonio, Texas.
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Katie Ledecky won the 200-, 400-, 800- and 1500-meter freestyle races.
81.
On Thursday May 20,2021, at the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite Katie Ledecky won the long course 100 meter freestyle final by one one-hundredth of a second in a time of 53.82 with second place going to Simone Manuel.
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Later the same day in the evening semifinals for the 200 meter freestyle, Katie Ledecky finished first with a time of 1:55.83.
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Katie Ledecky won the 200 meter and 1500 meter freestyle finals in a time span of about 70 minutes as well as collecting her medal at the 200 meter freestyle medal ceremony and eating a snack.
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Friday June 18,2021, the sixth day of competition, Katie Ledecky won with a time of 8:16.61 in the prelims heats of the 800-meter freestyle and advanced to the final.
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At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Katie Ledecky won two gold medals and two silver medals, making her the most decorated US female athlete for a second straight Summer Olympics.
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Katie Ledecky began her racing in the prelims of the 400 meter freestyle, ranking first overall with her time of 4:00.45 and advancing to the final.
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Katie Ledecky finished the final in 15:37.34, but her record from the preliminary round still holds.
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Katie Ledecky's split was the fastest of all swimmers in the relay finals.
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Katie Ledecky won her second gold medal of the Olympics and her seventh of all time in the 800-meter freestyle.
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Katie Ledecky became the first swimmer to win a distance event three times in a row, as well as the youngest and oldest person to win the 800 free.
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Additionally, Katie Ledecky signed on to be a volunteer swim coach for the Florida Gators.
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Katie Ledecky earned FINA's female swimmer of the meet trophy for a third time.
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Katie Ledecky's time was the sixth-fastest ever and over 7 seconds faster than her winning time at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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Swimming the third leg, Katie Ledecky passed Australia and Canada to take the lead with the third-fastest split in history.
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On day 7, Katie Ledecky won her final event by over 10 seconds, recording a time of 8:08.04 in the 800-meter freestyle.
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At the 2022 USA Swimming Championships in Irvine, Katie Ledecky won three gold medals by finishing first in the 200-meter freestyle, the 800-meter freestyle, and the 400-meter individual medley.
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Katie Ledecky set a time of 15:08.24, breaking the previous world record set by German swimmer Sarah Kohler by almost 10 seconds.
98.
At the 2023 USA Swimming Championships in Indianapolis, Katie Ledecky won three gold medals and a silver medal.
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At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Katie Ledecky won two gold medals and two silver medals.
100.
Two days later, Katie Ledecky won the 1500-meter freestyle by over 17 seconds.
101.
Katie Ledecky concluded her meet on Day 7 with the final of the 800-meter freestyle.
102.
Katie Ledecky posted the sixth-fastest time in history to top China's Li Bingjie by 4.44 seconds.
103.
Li and Ariarne Titmus became the second- and third-fastest performers ever in the event, while Katie Ledecky retained the 29 fastest times in history.
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Katie Ledecky finished in first place in four events: 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, and 1500-meter freestyle.
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Katie Ledecky later defended her title in the 1500 metre freestyle event, setting the new Olympic record with a time of 15:30:02.
106.
Katie Ledecky won her fourth consecutive gold medal and eighth individual gold in the 800 metre freestyle and competed in the 4x200m freestyle relay, joined by Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, and Erin Gemmell.
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Katie Ledecky was a USA Olympic team member in 2012,2016,2020, and 2024.
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Katie Ledecky holds the women's record for most individual gold medals and overall gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships.
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Katie Ledecky's combined 24 individual titles at the Olympics and World Aquatics Championships is a record for female swimmers.