The pinnacle of Olympic history makes room for Katie Ledecky, an American who holds the power to dethrone one of the last legacies of the Soviet era, gymnast Larissa Latynina, the woman with the most golds in a single Games. The swimmer matched her in her last event, winning the 800, and her intention, at least before Paris, was to reach Los Angeles. Her distance swimming abilities allow her to extend her career in a sport consumed by precocity, especially in the women's category. She will be 31 then.
Ledecky's haul is greater, totaling 14 medals. In Paris, she could have already surpassed Latynina, but she did not secure gold in the 400 free and the 4x200 free relay, being outperformed by the emerging Australian generation that dominated the Tokyo Games. Ariarne Titmus prevented her in the 400, but Ledecky was able to assert her dominance as a great distance swimmer in the 800. That event or the 1,500 could grant her the privilege of being the only one with 10 golds in Los Angeles.
"I want to see how I am year after year. It's my intention, but it's not easy," says the swimmer. In her favor, her professionalism and mental balance, unlike other swimmers of her generation, like Caeleb Dressel.
If the swimmer achieves it in Los Angeles 2028, she would have been at the top of the podium for 16 years, since her dazzling debut at 15 years old in London 2012, where she already won the 800. Latynina did it for 11 years, between 1956 and 1964. The inclusion of the 1,500 in the Olympic program has allowed her to win more golds. The more meters, the more Ledecky. In Rio 2016, she shone with four golds (200m, 400m, and 800m free and 4x200m relay). In Tokyo 2020, in 800 and 1,500, as in Paris.
"I hope my tenacity lasts longer than any sporting glory," the swimmer wrote in her memoir, Just add water, published in June. The daughter of a swimmer, introduced to the sport at six years old, finds pleasure in the water by "doing somersaults, twisting her body in all directions," and even, on a more existential level, "testing" her psyche to bring out the best.
Ahead of Ledecky is another swimmer, in this case unreachable, Michael Phelps, with 23 golds out of 28 total medals. However, Ledecky is not benefited by the fact that she does not swim more relays than the 4x200, being a distance swimmer. If not, her haul would be greater. In Paris, she also surpassed Jenny Thompson, with eight golds, but all in relay events. Los Angeles awaits her.