Katie Ledecky wins 1,500 free, tying all-time U.S. greats with 12 medals

NANTERRE, France — Katie Ledecky won gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday, securing her 12th career medal to tie Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin for the most ever by an American female swimmer.

Her runaway win, in Olympic record time, also earned Ledecky her eighth career gold medal, tying Thompson's record for the most by any female swimmer in Olympic history.

While Ledecky said she doesn't give much thought to history books, she said she'll always look up to those iconic U.S. swimmers.

"Those women that I'm up there with now, they're people that I've looked up to for so many years," Ledecky told reporters after the race. "I consider many of them friends, supporters, people that I was watching swim when I was just starting out in the sport, so that's very special to me to share that with them, and they've definitely inspired me."

As Ledecky, of the Bethesda, Maryland, touched the wall and looked up at the scoreboard to see her time of 15:30.02, she joyously slammed the water in a relatively rare demonstrative moment.

"Yeah, I was just happy with the time and just happy with how it felt," she said. "Any gold medal, it's not easy to win. So I'm just trying to appreciate it, appreciate the moment. I don't mean to celebrate that much, but it comes out, the happiness and the joy, it just comes out."

Contemporary Australian great Emma McKeon also has 12 medals — six gold, two silvers and four bronze — as all five swimmers now sit atop the list for most podium appearances by a female swimmer.

Thompson picked up her hardware in Athens (2004), Sydney (2000), Atlanta (1996) and Barcelona (1992), while Ledecky, 27, is here in France following medals in Tokyo, Rio (2016) and London (2012).

Coughlin's three golds, four silvers and five bronzes were won in Athens, Beijing (2008) and London (2012).

Torres has four of each medal, winning them in Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona, Sydney and Beijing.

Ledecky could still add to her collection as she competes in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay Thursday and the 800-meter freestyle Friday at Paris La Défense Arena. 

Ledecky won the first bronze of her career Saturday, finishing third in the 400-meter freestyle to gold medalist Ariarne Titmus of Australia and runner-up Summer McIntosh of Canada. 

McKeon got her 12th overall medal Saturday as a member of Australia’s golden 4x100-meter free relay team.

Ledecky shared the spotlight Wednesday night with French national hero Léon Marchand, who won a pair of gold medals, about two hours apart, in thrilling fashion.

In the 200 butterfly, it took an Olympic record time and a huge push in the final 50 for Marchand, the former Arizona State star, to overtake silver medalist Kristóf Milák, of Hungary. Milák had the previous Olympic mark and holds the world record.

Then Marchand put an exclamation on the evening by winning the 200 breaststroke, also in Olympic record time, as a deafening French crowd urged him on.

While elite athletes often say they block out crowd noise, Marchand said he embraced every decibel, especially as he chased down Milák.

"I wasn't ignoring it. I was really trying to listen to what was happening," he said. "I could hear the whole pool just going crazy. I think that's why I was able to win that race, really use that energy from the crowd."