Katie Ledecky | Biography, top competition results, trophy wins, and medals

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With seven Olympic gold medals and 21 World Championship titles, Katie Ledecky is one of the swimming’s all-time greats.

Having sprung to fame by winning 800m freestyle gold at London 2012 as a 15-year-old, the American has gone on to become Olympic champion at every distance from 200m to 1500m.

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1997, Ledecky fell in love with swimming aged six. She was inspired by her mother who was a college-level swimmer. During her high school years, Ledecky Jr broke several long-standing American records and earned an athletic scholarship to attend Stanford University.

While studying at Stanford, Ledecky continued to shine and made a name for herself nationally. She won eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles and set an impressive 15 NCAA records, winning back-to-back NCAA Team Championships and two consecutive Pac-12 Conference Team Championships for her team.

Ledecky made her Olympic debut at London 2012 aged just 15. She won her first gold in the 800m freestyle, defeating reigning world champion Kate Ziegler to start a remarkable Olympic journey.

Having won world titles in the 200 and 400 free, Ledecky was in a class of her own at Rio 2016. Her triumphs in the 200, 400 and 800 free saw her claim the most individual titles in the pool. She also set new world records in the 400 and 800.

With another gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay, she finished the meet as the second most decorated athlete behind the legendary Michael Phelps.

With the 1500m added to the Olympic programme for Tokyo 2020, Ledecky opted to concentrate on longer events. After losing her 400m crown to Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, she retained her 800m freestyle title and became the first women’s 1500m freestyle Olympic champion. With another relay silver in Tokyo, she became the most decorated American female athlete at consecutive Olympic Games, and the most decorated female individual swimmer in history.

Katie Ledecky’s World Championship Dominance

In addition to her Olympic titles, Ledecky consistently excels in major international swimming competitions like the World Championships and the Pan Pacific Championships. Her unmatched accomplishments have redefined women’s swimming.

The most decorated woman in World Championship history, Ledecky is also the only swimmer to win five consecutive world titles in an individual event, the 800m freestyle. She has not been beaten in the 800 free for over a decade.

Standing at 1.83m tall, Ledecky has broken 14 world and 37 national records during her career. She still holds the world records in both the 800m and 1500m freestyles, clocking 18 of the fastest 20 1500 free times in history. She has been honoured with the USA Swimming Golden Goggles Award for Female Swimmer of the Year an unprecedented seven times.