Katie Ledecky

At 27 years old, Katie Ledecky has this physical status:

Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky (born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 19 world championship gold medals, the most for a female swimmer in history. Ledecky's six individual gold medals at the Olympics, 14 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships, and 22 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are all record set in women's swimming. Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle (long course), as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400 meters freestyle (long course). She has also set the fastest times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. She is widely regarded as one of the best Olympians and the most outstanding female swimmer of all time.

Ledecky unexpectedly took the gold medal in the women's 800-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympic Games as a 15-year-old. With four gold medals, one bronze medal, and two world records, she left Rio de Janeiro as the most decorated female athlete of the 2016 Olympic Games. Ledecky also took the most coveted U.S. female athlete and became the first American female swimmer to win an individual event in three straight Olympiads at the 2020 Olympic Games. She has received 42 medals (34 golds, 7 silvers, and 1 bronze) in major international competitions spanning the Summer Olympics, World Championships, and Pan Pacific Championships. She has set 14 world records in her career.

Ledecky's success has earned her a new five-time Female World Swimmer of the Year award from Swimming World. In 2017, Ledecky was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year by L'Équipe in 2016, and 2017 as the Best Female Athlete of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation.

Early life, swimming, and education

Ledecky was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, the niece of Mary Gen (Hagan) and David Ledecky's daughter. Jaromn Ledecky, a Czech-born paternal grandmother, arrived in New York City on September 8, 1947, as a student, later becoming an economist, and married Berta Ruth Greenwald (Ledecky's paternal grandmother) in Brooklyn on December 30, 1956, and has relatives who were killed in the Holocaust in Europe. The mother of Ledecky is of Irish descent. She was raised Catholic. Jon Ledecky, a businessman and co-owner of the NHL team New York Islanders, is a businessman and a co-owner.

Ledecky began swimming at the age of six thanks to the influence of her older brother, Michael, and her mother, who swam for the University of New Mexico. She attended Little Flower School in Bethesda from eighth grade through eighth grade and graduated from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in 2015. Ledecky twice set the American and US Open records in the 500-yard freestyle, and twice set the national high-school record in the 200-yard freestyle. Ledecky ended her high school career as the holder of the Stone Ridge school record in every swimming event other than the 100-meter breaststroke.

She trained with the Nation's Capital Swim Club (formerly the Curl Burke Swim Club) under coach Yuri Suguiyama during the summer of 2012. Suguiyama's departure from Stanford to coach at the University of California, Berkeley, continued her training with the Nation's Capital Swim Club under new head coach Bruce Gemmell through the 2016 Olympics. She swam for Palisades Swim Team in Cabin John, Maryland, during the summers before 2012. Ledecky has been accepted an athletic scholarship to Stanford University, where she swam for Stanford University's women's swimming team, under coach Greg Meehan.

In December 2016, Ledecky was selected as one of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise's sponsors, as well as gymnast Simone Biles. They are the first Olympians to be honoured with this prestigious award.

She completed the required coursework for a bachelor of arts in psychology and a minor in political science at Stanford University in December 2020 and graduated in June 2021.

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Swimming career

Ledecky earned the Olympic team by placing first in the 800-meter freestyle at 8:19.78, more than two seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kate Ziegler in Omaha, Nebraska, his first senior national championship. Ledecky, Nebraska, also placed third in the 400-meter freestyle (4:05.00) and ninth in the 200-meter freestyle (1:58.66). She was third in the 400-meter freestyle for her third time ever. She was the fastest time ever swum by a 15-year-old American. She was the youngest American participant in the 2012 Olympic Games at 15 years, 4 months, and ten days.

Ledecky qualified to swim in the final of the 800-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London by a time of 8:23.84. Ledecky stunned the field by winning gold by more than four seconds in an 8:14.63 time, the second fastest effort of all time, just behind Rebecca Adlington's world record of 8:14.10.10 set in 2008. In addition, she tied Janet Evans' American record of 8:16.22, which hadn't been set since 1989. Ledecky fell out fast in the final, and by the 200-meter mark, she had already established a slim lead. Ledecky's personal record for the occasion was 4:04.34, and she'd finish fifth in the individual 400-meter freestyle. Ledecky was 3.42 seconds ahead of Mireia Belmonte Garca on the 750-meter mark, and 0.31 seconds slower than the world record pace. Ledecky took victory by 4.13 seconds and just missed the world record by 0.53 seconds. At the Golden Goggle Awards, she was the first international medal of her career, receiving her the 2012 Best Female Performance of the Year and Breakout Performer of the Year.

Ledecky qualified to swim in four individual events and the 4200-meter freestyle relay at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain, but she later dropped the 200-meter freestyle from her program. She came in first in the 400-, 800, and 1500-meter freestyle at the National Championships and second in the 200-meter freestyle.

Ledecky captured gold in the 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyle relay, as well as the 4200-meter freestyle relay, setting two world records. She became the second woman to win the 400 through 1500-meter titles in a World Championships since German Hannah Stockbauer in 2003. Ledecky won in 3:59.82, her first American record and becoming the second fastest performer of all time in the competition, in her first appearance in Barcelona.

Ledecky took gold in the 1500-meter freestyle in his second event, beating compatriot Kate Ziegler's record of 15:36.53. After losing the lead at the 300-meter mark and ending in a final 50 split of 29.47, Ledecky defeated Dane Lotte Friis in the final few hundred meters.

Missy Franklin claimed gold in her third and first relay event of her international career, as a result of her international experience. Missy Franklin overtook Australian Alicia Coutts in the last 200 meters, awarding the US the gold medal. Ledecky set the United States an early lead by swimming the first leg in a personal record of 1:56.32.

Ledecky claimed gold in her fourth and last event, beating Rebecca Adlington's world record of 8:14.10. Ledecky let Lotte Friis lead the majority of the competition, despite losing by 2.46 seconds at the 650-meter mark.

Ledecky earned the FINA award for the best female swimmer of the meet, earning more points than any other swimmer.

Ledecky was named World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine at the end of the year. She was also named as the best female swimmer for 2013 by FINA Aquatics World magazine.

In June, Ledecky started the year by breaking new world records in the 800- and 1500-meter freestyle at the 2014 Woodlands Swim Team Senior Invitational. Despite being in season and competing multiple events, Ledecky was able to record a new world record in the 1500-meter freestyle in 15:34.23, beating her previous record of 15:36.53. Ledecky was then a world record in the 800-meter freestyle, beating her previous record of 8:13.86.

Ledecky placed first in the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle at the 2014 United States National Championships, the qualifying meet for both the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the 2015 World Aquatics Championships. Ledecky set her third world record of the year by defeating Federica Pellegrini's 2009 world record of 3:58.86 in the 400-meter freestyle. Ledecky made history by winning the 400m, 800, and 1500 meters freestyles at the same time. Janet Evans was the first female since Janet Evans to hold world records simultaneously.

Ledecky earned five gold medals and set two world records at the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. Her victories included the 200-, 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyle, as well as the 4200-meter freestyle. Ledecky came close to breaking the world record in the 800-meter freestyle, finishing in 8:11.35. Her world records included time in the 400- and 1500 meters freestyles, as well as times of 3:58.37 and 15:28.36, respectively. She became the first woman to win four individual gold medals at a single Pan Pacific Championship.

Ledecky had a half-second lead on the field at the halfway point before winning by 1.46 seconds in a meet record time of 1:55.74. Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle, swimming under her world record for the majority of the race before collapsing by 8.52 seconds over New Zealand swimmer Lauren Boyle, less than an hour later.

Shannon Vreeland, Missy Franklin, and Leah Smith swam her third meet record by swimming on the American 4200-meter freestyle relay team the next day. Ledecky, swimming the anchor leg of the competition, erased a 1.2-second deficit going into the final leg of the competition, defeating Australia's Melanie Schlanger by a 1:54.36 split over the final 200 meters. In the 100-meter freestyle heats, she also swam in the 100-meter freestyle heats.

Ledecky set her fourth meet record in the 400-meter freestyle prelim heats on the third day of the meet, clocking in at 4:03.09. Ledecky smashed the record set at the new Gold Coast Aquatic Center for the first time ever on Friday night, clocking in at 3:58.37. Ledecky's winning time was over six seconds quicker than American teammate and silver medalist Cierra Runge.

Ledecky set her fifth world record of the year on the last day of the meet, lowering her record in the 1500-meter freestyle by almost six seconds by a time of 15:28.36 seconds. Ledecky finished the second half of the race faster than the first, clocking the final 800 meters in 8:14.11, faster than any other woman in a textile suit in a regular 800-meter run. In the final, Ledecky pounded three opponents in the final and ended 27.33 seconds behind silver medalist Boyle. Ledecky's 1500 appearance was "the most thrilling run I've ever seen," according to National Team Director Frank Busch, "I've been involved in the sport for 50 years...She's on a completely different track than anyone else."

Ledecky was named the female swimmer of the meet during the championships' closing ceremonies.

Ledecky was named World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine at the end of the year.

Ledecky claimed five gold medals and set three world records at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia. Her victories in the 200-, 400-, 800, and 1500 meters freestyles, as well as the 4200-meter freestyle. In the 800- and 1500-meter freestyles, she set world records. In a major tournament, Ledecky is the first swimmer to win the 200-, 400-, 800-, and 1500 meters freestyles. Ledecky was also named the female swimmer of the meet.

Ledecky started the World Championships by winning gold in the 400-meter freestyle in a new championship record and nearly four seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

On the second day of competition, Ledecky set a new world record of 15:27.71.

Ledecky swam in the heats of the 200-meter freestyle on the third day of competition, qualifying first in 1:55.82. Ledecky faced a difficult double in the 1500-meter freestyle final and the 200-meter freestyle semi-finals just after. Ledecky set a new world record in a time of 15:25.48. Ledecky took 6th place in the 200-meter freestyle after twenty-nine minutes.

Ledecky captured her third gold medal of the meet on the fourth day of competition, winning in a time of 1:55.16. Ledecky was not a quick win over her other sports, featuring Missy Franklin and Federica Pellegrini. In the end, Ledecky was able to fend off a fast charging Pellegrini before winning by a narrow margin. Ledecky's final 50-meter time in the field was second-quickest in the field behind Pellegrini's 29.33.

Ledecky, Missy Franklin, Leah Smith, and Katie McLaughlin all advanced to gold in the 4200-meter freestyle relay on the fifth day of competition. Ledecky swam a split of 1:55.64 and the Americans finished with a time of 7:45.37.

Ledecky earned gold in the 800-meter freestyle on the seventh day of competition, beating her own record by 3.61 seconds.

Ledecky debuted at Austin's Arena Pro Swim Series in 2016. She set a new world record in the 800-meter freestyle on the final day of competition, clocking 8:06.68. She set world-leading times in the 200- and 400-meter freestyles as well as a a record-setting time in the 100-meter freestyle earlier this year.

Ledecky, the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyles, qualified for her second Olympic team in Omaha, Nebraska, at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials. Ledecky opened the Trials with a victory and a record in the 400-meter freestyle (4:58.98). En route to winning the 200-meter freestyle two days later, she ran a time of 1:54.88. Ledecky set a new national championship record in the morning preliminary heats of the 800-meter freestyle (8:10.91) before placing seventh that evening in the 100-meter freestyle (53.99). Ledecky lowered her meet record by winning the 800-meter freestyle final by almost ten seconds (8:10.32). Ledecky set the fastest times in the event's history by winning two swimming events in the 800-meter freestyle. Ledecky was named the female swimmer of the week at the end of the week.

The 4100-meter freestyle relay in Ledecky's first event in the 2016 Summer Olympics was the first event for the United States in both the prelims and final. In the heats, Ledecky had a scorch of 52.64. Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil, and Dana Vollmer all competed in the final, resulting in the team's victory of 54.79, a new national record for the United States.

The 400-meter freestyle was her first individual event. With a time of 3:58.71, Ledecky qualified in the heats, setting an Olympic record. She claimed the gold medal in the final with a time record of 3:56.46, a few seconds slower than her previous record from 2014 and just over five seconds ahead of the silver medalist, Jazmin Carlin.

Ledecky captured gold in the 200 meters freestyle, beating Sarah Sjöström by 0.35 seconds.

Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, and Maya DiRado all won gold in the 4200-meter freestyle relay. Ledecky won by a stunning 2.89 seconds on the anchor leg, turning a 1.89-second deficit into a 1.84-second triumph at 7:43.03.

In her final individual event, the 800-meter freestyle, she claimed her fourth gold medal. She qualified in the heats with an Olympic record of 8:12.86 and set a world record of 8:04.79, over 11 seconds faster than silver medalist Jazmin Carlin.

Ledecky became the first swimmer to win the 200, 400, and 800 meters freestyle at the same Olympics since Debbie Meyer did so in 1968 in Mexico City. Ledecky's final medal total (four golds, one silver) is the most decorated single-Olympics effort by a female athlete in terms of gold medals, beating Missy Franklin (2012; four golds, 1 bronze), and Amy Van Dyken (1996; four golds). At the 2016 games, Ledecky was also the second most decorated Olympian, behind Michael Phelps (5 golds, 1 silver).

Ledecky set 12 NCAA records and nine American records while swimming as a freshman for Stanford University in the 2016-2017 NCAA season.

Ledecky set a new American and American Open record in the women's 500-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle at the Ohio State Invitational in November 2016.

Ledecky received Swimmer of the Meet in Washington, Washington, after Stanford captured its first conference championship in four years. Ledecky anchored the 800-yard freestyle relay with a 1:40.28 split on the first day of the meet, defeating the NCAA, American, and U.S. Open records in the 800-yard freestyle relay with Lia Neal, Katie Drabot, and Ella Eastin. Ledecky slowed her own record in the 500-yard freestyle by 4:25.15 seconds the next day. She won the 400-yard individual medley for a new American record of 3:57.68 before finishing second to teammate Simone Manuel in the 200-yard freestyle with a personal record less than half an hour later. Ledecky worked with Manuel, Neal, and Janet Hu to smash the NCAA and American records in the 400-yard freestyle relay on the final day of the meet.

Ledecky was a student at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, leading Stanford to its first team title since 1998. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, 500-yard freestyle, and a 400-yard freestyle relay, she set a new record in American, NCAA, and the United States Open, as well as a meet-best five race titles overall. With Manuel, Neal, and Eastin, she set the team's fastest time to lower the 800-yard freestyle relay record to 6:46.91 on the first day. She set a new personal record in the 500-yard freestyle on Sunday, defeating Leah Smith, the second-fastest performer of all time, by nearly five seconds. Ledecky's 20th birthday set the record in the 200-yard freestyle to beat Manuel and tie second place to Mallory Comerford for the honor. Ledecky set a new NCAA record in the 1000-yard freestyle (13:06.90) on the meet's final day, defeating runner-up Smith by 21.19 seconds and advancing all other participants. Ledecky won the second leg of Stanford's 400-yard freestyle relay relay, despite being unable to swim Manuel, Neal, and Hu in the meet's final event. With a time of 3:07.61, the team tied for the first championship margin since 2003.

Following the season, Ledecky became the country's first freshman in 35 years to win the Honda Cup, which honors the country's top female college athlete.

Ledecky won the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle at the 2017 National Championships, the qualifying meet for the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, earning a spot in six events.

Ledecky broke the World Aquatics Championships' all-time female gold medal record in Budapest, winning five golds and one silver, raising her career total number to 14.

Ledecky defended her world title in her first event, completing in a new record time of 3:58.34. Ledecky swam the third leg of the 4100-meter freestyle later that evening. Ledecky split in 53.83, a new national record for the United States, helped the team capture gold with a time of 3:31.72.

Ledecky defended her 1500-meter freestyle title on the third day of competition, winning in a time of 15:31.82. Ledecky claimed gold medals for the first time by a female swimmer in long course World Championships history, winning her twelfth World Championship gold medal.

Ledecky took silver in the 200-meter freestyle (with Emma McKeon), finishing second behind Federica Pellegrini in 1:55.18 on the fourth day of competition. This was Ledecky's first international disappointment in a final in an individual event. Notably, Ledecky set the fastest time in the semifinals the day before, running in a time of 1:54.69. She achieved this result less than an hour after competing in the 1500-meter freestyle final.

Ledecky, Leah Smith, Mallory Comerford, and Melanie Margalis earned gold in the 4200-meter freestyle relay on the fifth day of competition. Ledecky's anchor leg completed in 1:54.02 seconds, and the Americans finished in 7:43.39 seconds.

Ledecky claimed victory in the 800-meter freestyle for her fifth straight title in the event, as well as the World Championships.

Ledecky also set two NCAA records and two American records during the 2017-18 NCAA season, while assisting Stanford in its second straight team title.

Ledecky set a new American and U.S. Open record in the 1650-yard freestyle at the Texas A&M Invitational in November 2017.

Ledecky received Swimmer of the Meet honors in Federal Way for the second year in a row, sweeping the 500-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley, and 200-yard freestyle. Ledecky broke Katinka Hossz's all-time record by a single second, finishing in 3:56.53. Stanford won its second team title in as many years.

Ledecky defeated the 500 and 1650-yard freestyle events by a wide margin and anchored the winning 800-yard freestyle relay team of Katie Drabot, Brooke Forde, and Ella Eastin at the NCAA Championships. Ledecky placed second in the 400-yard individual medley to Eastin, who lowered the record Ledecky set a month earlier at the Pac-12 Championships. Ledecky re-set her NCAA record in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:05.89 en route to winning by more than 28 seconds in the 1650-yard freestyle. Stanford defeated runner-up California-Berkeley by 220 points, the highest margin of victory in 25 years.

Ledecky revealed at the National Press Club this week that she would forego her last two seasons of NCAA eligibility in order to pursue professional endorsement and sponsorship opportunities. Dan Levy, a Wasserman sports agent, has been contacted for representation.

The College Sports Information Directors of America named Ledecky the Division I Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for her academic and academic accomplishments at the conclusion of the academic year.

Ledecky made her debut as a professional swimmer at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she set a new world record of 15:20.48 on May 16, 2018. She surpassed the previous record by five seconds.

On June 8, 2018, Ledecky signed her first sponsorship contract with TYR Sport, Inc.

Ledecky qualified for the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships by finishing first in the 200, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle at the US National Swimming Championships in July.

Ledecky led all swimmers with three individual titles, winning gold in the 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyle at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo. In the 4x200-meter freestyle, she earned bronze in the 200-meter freestyle and silver.

Ledecky took gold in the 800-meter freestyle on the first day of competition in 8:09.13, defeating runner-up Ariarne Titmus of Australia by 7.94 seconds. Ledecky took third place in the 200-meter freestyle (1:54.15), just over an hour later, finishing third behind Canada's Taylor Ruck (1:54.44) and Japan's Rikako Ikee (1:54.85).

Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, and Katie McLaughlin led the United States team on the 4x200-meter freestyle relay the next day. Ledecky swam the fourth-quickest relay split in history (1:53.84), nearly beating Australian Madeline Groves, who touched 0.25 seconds ahead of Ledecky to record a new championship and national record.

Ledecky defeated Titmus wire-to-wire in the 400-meter freestyle on the third day.

With another gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle, Ledecky brought home the championships, winning by a margin of 21.11 seconds (15:38.97).

Ledecky battled sickness and recovered from two events before winning her fourth-straight World Championship title in the 800-meter freestyle at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Ledecky led Australian Ariarne Titmus into the final wall of the 400-meter freestyle final on the first day of competition, before falling to second place. Despite qualifying first for the event's final, Ledecky suffered through her preliminary heat of the 1500-meter freestyle the next morning. She later revealed that she would be unable to move from the 1500 and 200-meter freestyle due to sickness.

Ledecky returned to action three days later to swim in the final of the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay. With a time of 7:41.87, the Americans (Simone Manuel, Ledecky, Melanie Margalis, and Katie McLaughlin) set a new American record and swam under the existing world record, yet to the Australian team, who finished second (7:41.50).

Ledecky finished second in the 800-meter freestyle final, while recovering from illness. Ledecky led the way early in the tournament until Italian swimmer Simona Quadarella took over midway through the competition. Ledecky led Quadarella past the final wall. Ledecky won by 1.41 seconds over Quadarella and pushed away in the final 50 meters.

Ledecky was the ambassador for Washington, D.C. Trident, during the inaugural season of the International Swimming League.

Ledecky had the best times in the world in both the 800- and 1500-meter freestyles (8:10.70 and 15:35.98) for the seventh year in a row.

Ledecky has received multiple awards for his services in the end of the decade. Ledecky was named the best swimmer of the decade by fifty-two percent of SwimSwam.com readers, ahead of Michael Phelps. The International Sportswoman of the Decade was selected by readers of The London Evening Standard. She came in third place in the Associated Press' Female Athlete of the Decade poll, behind Serena Williams and Simone Biles.

Ledecky debuted in Des Moines, Iowa, where she took the 200-, 400-, and 1500 meters freestyle events. Ledecky was forced to miss out on the 800-meter freestyle run due to sickness. Ledecky did not participate in any other sports during 2020.

At San Antonio, Texas, Ledecky started 2021 at the TYR Pro Swim Series. She took the 200-, 400-, 800-, and 1500 meters freestyle races.

Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite Ledecky won the long course 100 meter freestyle final by a single one-hundredth of a second in a time of 53.82, with second place going to Simone Manuel.

Ledecky was interviewed in an interview with Stanford University about day one of the 2020 USA Swimming Olympic Trials (postponed to June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and preparation for the Olympic trials. Ledecky and her companion Simone Manuel trained for the Olympics in a 25-yard private pool in Atherton, in the backyard of masters swimmer Tod Spieker because training facilities were closed during the pandemic.

Ledecky took part in the prelims of the 400 meters freestyle in the morning on Sunday, ranked 1st out of all prelims heats, and advanced to the final in the evening on the second day, 2021. The 400 meter freestyle was the first event on Ledecky's calendar, where she had the opportunity to represent the United States Olympic Team in 2020. Ledecky came first in the 4:01.27 time in the evening final of the 400 meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics, securing her first spot on her third US Olympic Team swimming the 400 meter freestyle. Various news outlets, including NBC Sports, Newsweek, and USA Today, all praised this achievement.

Ledecky swam a 1:58.58 in the 200 meter freestyle prelims on day three, finishing second fastest of all heats. She swam a 15:43.10 in the 1500 meters freestyle prelims, finishing as the fastest swimmer of prelims heat and setting a new Championship Record more than a record set in 2013. Ledecky took first in the evening semifinals for the 200 meter freestyle in the evening, taking first in 1:55.83 seconds.

She won both the 200m and 1500m freestyle finals on day four in the evening on June 16, 2016. In the 1500 meters freestyle, Ledecky set a new personal record the day before and becoming the first female winner of the women's 1500 meters freestyle at the US Olympic Trials. In the 200 meter freestyle, she swam a 1:55.11.11 These two swimmers have earned her spots on the US Olympic Team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 1500 meter freestyle and 200 meter freestyle individual competitions as well as the 4x200 meter relay. Ledecky took the 200 meters and 1500 meters freestyle finals in a time span of about 70 minutes as well as receiving her medal at the 200 meter freestyle medal ceremony and eating a snack.

Ledecky claimed in the prelims heats of the 800-meter freestyle on Friday, June 18, 2021, the sixth day of competition. Ledecky finished the first day in the final with a time of 8:14.62 and qualified to swim the 800 meters freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics for the United States.

Ledecky's second gold medals and two silver medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, making her the most decorated U.S. female athlete for her second straight Summer Olympics. Ledecky started running in the prelims of the 400 meter freestyle, placing first overall in the times of 4:00.45 and progressing to the final. However, she came in second second after leading at the 300 meters mark and finishing second second behind Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus to win the silver medal. Ledecky's time of 3:57.36 was the second-fastest time of her career and the fourth fastest in history. This was Ledecky's first defeat in an individual event at the Olympics.

Ledecky set an Olympic record in her heat in her debut at the Summer Olympics in a time of 15:35.35, earning first place overall. Ledecky finished first in the 1500 meters freestyle in the same prelims session as the 1500 meters freestyle champions, a time of 1:55.28. He progressed to the event's semifinals. In the semifinals of the 200 meters freestyle, she swam a 1:55.34, placing her third overall. Ledecky failed to qualify for the 200 m freestyle in the finals of these two events, placing fifth behind Titmus, Haughey, Oleksiak, and Yang, but placing 1st in the 1500 meters race, clinching her first gold medal of the Games. She reached the final in 15:37.34, but her record from the preliminar run is unchanged.

Ledecky anchored for Team USA in the women's 4x200 freestyle relay, winning a silver medal with Allison Schmitt, Paige Madden, and Katie McLaughlin behind China on the next day. Both Australia and China were behind the US in the run-off, but she finished the race 0.4 seconds behind China's Li Bingjie and Australia's Austral, who were the favorites going into the tournament. In the relay finals, Ledecky's time was the fastest of all swimmers. Ledecky captured her second gold medal of the Olympics and her seventh in the 800-meter freestyle, her second of all time. Her six individual gold medals are the most of any female Olympic swimmer and female US Olympian, and the second-most medalists in the Olympic swimmers behind Michael Phelps. She became the first woman to win a distance race three times in a row, as well as the youngest and oldest woman to win the 800 free (at age 15 in 2012 and age 24 in 2021).

Ledecky announced her intention to work with coach Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida after the Olympic Games on September 22nd. In addition, Ledecky has agreed to serve as a volunteer swim coach for the Florida Gators.

Ledecky took home all four of her competitions, including the 400 meter freestyle, 1500 meters freestyle relay, and 800 meters freestyle at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Ledecky grew her World Championships medal haul to 22, defeating Natalie Coughlin for the most female swimmer in a female swimmer. For the third time, Ledecky took home FINA's female swimmer of the Meet trophy.

Ledecky captured the 400-meter freestyle in a championship record 3:58.15, defeating Canadian silver medalist Summer McIntosh by 1.24 seconds. Ledecky's swim was the seventh fastest in history.

Ledecky won the 1500-meter freestyle two days later, taking the lead and teammate Katie Grimes by 14 seconds. Ledecky's time was the sixth fastest ever (behind only her own records) and over 7 seconds faster than her winning time at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

On day five, Ledecky, Leah Smith, and Bella Sims joined Ledecky in the United States 4x200 freestyle relay. Ledecky took the lead with the third leg of the swimming world (13:53.67). Sims led the team to a new championship record of 7:41.45.

Ledecky took her final event by more than ten seconds on day 7, a time of 8:08.04 in the 800-meter freestyle. The swim was the fifth-fastest in history, and Ledecky ran the 28 fastest times in the distance. Ledecky was the first swimmer, male or female, to win five consecutive world championship titles in an individual event.

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