Ledecky powered to fourth straight 800m Olympic freestyle title to equal record for most gold medals won by woman athlete
\n Paris
\nAdding yet another feather in her cap, US swim star Katie Ledecky won 9th gold medal in 800 metres freestyle category during the ongoing Paris Olympics on Saturday.
\nLedecky powered to a fourth straight 800m Olympic freestyle title to equal the record for most gold medals won by a woman athlete in any sport. She equals Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina\u2019s 50 years old record.
\nWith the fresh achievement, Ledecky became the second woman athlete who won nine gold medals in the history of the Olympics.
\nShe has dominated in the 800m since winning the event as a 15-year-old at the London Games in 2012, and while she was pushed all the way by Australian Ariarne Titmus, the defence of her crown never truly looked in danger.
\nThe 27-year-old hit the wall in 8min 11.04sec, ahead of Titmus (8:12.29) and the United States\u2019 Paige Madden (8:13.00)
\n\u201cI knew Ariarne was going to give me everything she had,\u201d said Ledecky.
\n\u201cI felt confident coming into it, but it was gonna be tough no matter what all the way down to the finish.
\n\u201cI just had to stick in the race and trust myself, trust my training, trust that I know how to race that event and I am just kind of relieved that I got my hand on my wall.\u201d
\nA ninth gold drew her level with former Soviet-era artistic gymnast Latynina as the only women ever to collect that many titles.
\nThe greatest distance swimmer the sport has seen, she had already won the 1500m and earned silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m freestyle in Paris.
\nNo other woman swimmer has won gold at four different Olympics and Ledecky said that was the record that gave her particular satisfaction.
\n\u201cI think four times one is the one that kind of means the most to me. I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself but I\u2019m just really happy that I could get the job done,\u201d she added.
\n\u2018Unreal\u2019
\nTitmus, who beat Ledecky in the 400m freestyle, was full of admiration for the American\u2019s achievement.
\n\u201cShe\u2019s been winning this race since I was 11 years old and I turn 24 next month. That is just remarkable. She\u2019s unreal,\u201d she said.
\nMcIntosh led from Australian Kaylee McKeown after the backstroke before the USA\u2019s Alex Walsh grabbed the advantage at the last turn, following the breaststroke leg.
\nBut McIntosh once again produced the killer final lap to grab a thrilling victory.
\nAmerican Kate Douglass took silver while McKeown took the bronze after Walsh, who had finished third, was disqualified.
\nMcIntosh was able to enjoy another of her casual strolls around the pool, waving to her fans with a gold medal around her neck.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s pretty surreal. I\u2019m just so proud of myself of how I\u2019ve been able to recover and manage the events because it is a lot,\u201d said the teenager.
\nHungary\u2019s Kristof Milak claimed his country\u2019s second swimming gold of these Games with victory in the men\u2019s 100m butterfly.
\nCanada\u2019s Josh Liendo took silver while his compatriot Ilya Kharun claimed bronze.
\nIt was the second time this week that the Hungarians have been celebrating at La Defense Arena after Hubert Kos took gold in the 200m backstroke.
\nMilak was a silver medallist in the same event in Tokyo and also took silver in the 200m fly behind Leon Marchand this week.
\nHe now has two career golds in the fly, adding to his 200m success three years ago.
\nIn the mixed 4x100m medley relay, the USA took gold with a world record time to eclipse China and Australia.
\nTheir team of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske touched in 3min 37.43sec to narrowly better the mark set by Britain at the Tokyo Games.
\nIn the semi-finals of the women\u2019s 50m freestyle, Sweden\u2019s Sarah Sjoestroem set a new Olympic record with her swim of 23.66, the third-fastest time in history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ledecky powered to fourth straight 800m Olympic freestyle title to equal record for most gold medals won by woman athlete Paris Adding yet another feather in her cap, US swim star Katie Ledecky won 9th gold medal in 800 metres freestyle category during the ongoing Paris Olympics on Saturday. Ledecky powered to a fourth straight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-422858","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n