Here are the stakes for seven-time gold medalist Katie Ledecky at her fourth Olympic Games in Paris, starting Saturday.
She can pass Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals by any woman, should she win three.
She can join Michael Phelps as the second Olympian ever to earn 10 or more gold medals.
If she wins gold in the 800-meter freestyle, the last event in which she’s expected to compete in a week from Saturday, she will become the second woman and first female swimmer to earn gold in the same event in four consecutive Olympics, following Japanese wrestler Kaori Icho.
Ledecky is already widely considered to be the greatest female swimmer of all time.
Adding further to her gold medal count at the age of 27 this summer would further cement and add to the legend.
“I know my competition,” Ledecky told reporters following Olympic trials earlier this month. “I know where I’m at, I know what I need to do. I have a pretty good feel for what I’m capable of doing. I’m just going to stay focused on that, stay focused on my process and I am just as excited going into these Games as I have been the past three and that’s the most important thing. And that’s what I think always brings out the performances within me.”
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
Ledecky is slated to swim in three individual events — the 400, 800 and 1,500-meter freestyle races — and likely will be part of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay team.
She qualified in the 200-meter individual race as well, but opted out.
While the greater distances are the events in which Ledecky is the overwhelming favorite — she holds the top 19 times in history in the 1,500 and the top 29 times on the world record list in the 1,500 — it’s the 400-meter race on Saturday that carries much of the hype because it is one that Ledecky might not win.
Australian Ariarne Titmus and Canadian Summer McIntosh are both potential gold medalists in the 400, with Titmus the likely favorite after beating Ledecky in the event in both the Tokyo Games and the 2023 World Championships, where she set the current world record.
McIntosh, 17, is third on the world record list, with Titmus holding three of the top four times and Ledecky checking in at fifth.
Though McIntosh is more than capable of spoiling the party, the rivalry renewal between Ledecky and Titmus is the draw here — and history could hang in the balance for the American.
“I’m being honest and saying that I think I’ve prepared the best I ever have for a swim meet,” Titmus, 23, told reporters at Australia’s camp in France. “So, more than anything, I’m just excited to see what I’m capable of.
“That’s why I still swim because I believe I’ve got more in the tank, and so that’s my goal at these games, to try and get every [little bit] out of myself and see what I’m capable of.”
No matter, here was Ledecky speaking to reporters in Paris.
“I’m looking forward to the 400 free, day one,” she said. “I like my chances.
“I’m prepared and ready to race.”
All right then.
Titmus also will compete in the 800-meter freestyle race, where Ledecky is a prohibitive favorite, and is likely to swim in the 200-meter relay, in which Australia will be favored.
And she’ll defend her title in the 200-meter freestyle, which Ledecky won’t compete in.
“I have got so many learnings from the last Olympic Games,” Titmus told reporters. “Taking that confidence with me can make the task seem a little bit more grounded. I have just tried to take everything I have learnt over the past three years with me, and all the experiences I have got from international racing.”
It is Ledecky’s shot at history.
It is everyone else’s shot to stop it.
“Those two [Titmus and McIntosh] have continued to raise the game, raise my game,” Ledecky told reporters. “I know that I have to bring my best, I think they know they have to bring their best. So I think that’s what you want in an Olympic race.
“We have the top three times ever in that race, we’re the top three performers, I should say. And so that just makes for a great field.”
