Katie Ledecky wins gold medal in 1,500-meter freestyle, sets Olympic record

NANTERRE, France — Katie Ledecky, the greatest female swimmer in history, won Olympic gold Wednesday night in one of the two races she has dominated for more than a decade, the 1,500-meter freestyle.

Ledecky took command of the race early and never was threatened, winning in an Olympic record 15:30.02. It is her first gold medal of these Games to go along with a bronze she won Saturday in the 400 freestyle.

She now has won 12 medals in four Olympic Games, tying her for the most Olympic swimming medals won by a woman with Americans Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin and Australian Emma McKeon, who also is competing here. Ledecky has two more events at the Paris Olympics, the 4x200 freestyle relay and the 800 freestyle.

Ledecky, 27, is undefeated in the 1,500 in her professional career, having won five world titles and the first-ever Olympic gold medal in the event at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She of course also holds the world record in the 1,500, which she has set six different times, and now has recorded the 20 fastest times in the race.

The last time Ledecky was beaten in the 1,500, she was a high school student swimming in a regional meet near her home in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., 14 years ago.

Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel

Katie Ledecky career Olympic medals

• London 2012

  • Gold: 800m freestyle

• Rio de Janeiro 2016

  • Gold: 200m freestyle

  • Gold: 400m freestyle

  • Gold: 800m freestyle

  • Gold: 4x200m freestyle relay

  • Silver: 4x100m freestyle relay

• Tokyo 2020

  • Gold: 800m freestyle

  • Gold: 1500m freestyle

  • Silver: 400m freestyle

  • Silver: 4x200m freestyle relay

• Paris 2024

  • Bronze: 400m freestyle

  • Gold: 1500m freestyle

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Katie Ledecky wins gold for Team USA in 1500m freestyle at Olympics