Katie Ledecky Wins 800-Meter Freestyle, Tying Record for Most Gold Medals by Female Olympian

The swimmer tied former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for most gold medals by any female Olympian at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, Aug. 3

Katie Ledecky sure knows how to make a splash at the Olympics.

The swimmer won her ninth gold medal in the women’s 800-meter freestyle in Paris on Saturday, Aug. 3, tying former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for most gold medals by any female Olympian.

Ledecky, 27, bested Ariarne Titmus of Australia, who shared a hug with Ledecky in the pool after she won silver, and Paige Madden of Team USA, who took home a bronze medal.

The win, which came at Paris’s La Défense Arena, marked Ledecky’s 14th Olympic medal, and her fourth consecutive gold in the women’s 800-meter freestyle. She previously set a world record in the event in Rio in 2016, with a time of 8:04.79.

Related: Every Single Medal Olympic Swimming Star Katie Ledecky Has Won to Date

"I knew that it was going to be a tough race and I felt confident coming into it, but I knew it was going to be tough no matter what, all the way down to the finish," Ledecky told reporters, including PEOPLE, after the race. "So I just had to stick to the race and trust myself, trust my training, trust that I know how to race out of that."

As for her record, Ledecky said it's "not something you think about," but that the date, Aug. 3, is important to her, as it's the same date she won in 2012.

"I didn't want Aug. 3 to be a day that I didn't like moving forward," she said. "So I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself, but [I'm] just really happy that I could get that."

Saturday’s hardware comes two days after the star athlete made history by becoming the most decorated female American Olympian when she won a silver medal in the women’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay alongside Erin Gemmell, Paige Madden and Claire Weinstein.

With her final event now over, Ledecky is leaving Paris with gold in the 800-meter freestyle and the 1500-meter freestyle, silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay and bronze in the 400-meter freestyle.

“I try not to think about the history very much,” she told reporters said on Wednesday. “So it’s just an honor to be named among them. And I’m grateful for them inspiring me.”

Related: Katie Ledecky Is Now the Most Decorated Female Olympian in U.S. History After Winning Relay Silver

The swimmer currently holds two swimming world records and three Olympic records, one of which she set in Paris on July 31 (the women’s 1500-meter freestyle, which she swam in 15:30.02).

Latynina, with whom Ledecky now shares a title, made her Olympic debut at 21 in the 1956 Melbourne Games. For years, she was the only Olympic athlete to have won 18 medals, until Michael Phelps broke her record in 2012.

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