Each and every day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, NBCOlympics.com will keep you updated overnight with the biggest stories from across the Olympic landscape. All competition streams live on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock — visit the schedule page for more details. We will continue to update this recap throughout the day.
On Tuesday, the United States women’s gymnastics team won the team final and Simone Biles earned her eighth Olympic medal, becoming the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history. Wednesday featured Katie Ledecky‘s continued dominance in the pool and more notable takeaways from a day that featured 18 medal events.
Here’s what you should know from Day 5 of competition.
Swimming: Ledecky is good as gold in 1500m freestyle
Katie Ledecky made history once again on Wednesday evening in Paris, winning gold in the women’s 1500m freestyle event at the 2024 Olympic Games.
The American swimmer, who came into the race boasting the 19 fastest times in the race, finished in 15:30.02, an Olympic record and ten seconds better than the next finisher, for her eighth career Olympic gold medal. Ledecky is now tied with swimming legends Jenny Thompson, Natalie Coughlin and Dara Torres for the most medals of all time (12) by any U.S. women in history.
“I try not to think about history very much,” Ledecky said. “I know those names, those people I’m up with. They’re people I looked up to when I first started swimming.
“It’s an honor to be named among them. I’m grateful for them inspiring me. There are so many great swimmers that have helped me get to this moment.”
France’s Anastasia Kirpichnikova won silver while Isabel Gose of Germany grabbed the bronze medal.
“I was shocked,” Kirpichnikova said. “I can’t imagine that I am second, right behind Ledecky.”
Results: Women’s 1500m freestyle
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