Katie Ledecky made history Saturday morning, breaking her tie with 28-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps by winning a record 16th individual swimming world title.
Ledecky, 26, secured the record in her signature 800-meter freestyle event, completing the race in 8 minutes, 8.87 seconds to give her the 29 fastest times in history — and continue her undefeated stretch — since winning her first Olympic title at 15 years old in 2012.
She also became the first swimmer to win any event six times at worlds.
“It was special,” Ledecky said after the win on Peacock. “I’m happy with that swim. I wanted to be a little bit better [time-wise], but I’ll take it. I’m really pleased with how the week went.”
She concluded her events at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan with two gold medals (800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle) and two silver medals (400-meter freestyle and 4×200-meter freestyle relay).
“It feels great, I’m just really enjoying swimming right now and especially my distance events, I’ve just been feeling great,” Ledecky said after winning the 1500m — the race that tied Phelps’ mark — with a time of 15 minutes, 26.27 seconds.
Given her track record with the 2024 Summer Olympics approaching, Ledecky could keep moving closer to Phelps’ Olympic medals record, though it’ll be difficult to surpass.
She currently holds 10 total medals in the Olympics, placing her two shy of second place in swimming behind Natalie Coughlin, Ryan Lochte, Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres.
Seven of Ledecky’s medals are gold, which is also two shy of second place in Olympic history behind Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, American swimmer Mark Spitz and runner Carl Lewis and Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi.
Phelps holds both records, and 23 of his 28 total medals have been gold medals.
French swimmer Leon Marchand shattered Phelps’ long-standing 400 meters individual medley world record — the last one he held — earlier at the world championships.
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