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Katie Ledecky wins gold in women's 1500-meter freestyle at Paris Games | Social media reacts
Katie Ledecky continues to define dominance at the Olympics.
The four-time Olympic athlete defended her crown in the 1500-meter freestyle on Wednesday at the 2024 Paris Olympics, edging out the entire field by 10.33 seconds, earning her eighth Olympic gold medal.
With the gold medal finish, Ledecky ties Jenny Thompson as the winningest female athlete in U.S. Olympic history with eight Olympic gold medals. It is the second Olympic medal won in Paris for Ledecky, after she won bronze in the women's 400-meter freestyle final on Saturday, and 12th overall Olympic medal. She joins Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin in the 12 Olympic medal club for U.S. female swimmers per NBC's broadcast.
"I’m just so honored to represent our country and those women that have set the standard for so many years (that) have inspired me," Ledecky told NBC's Melissa Stark after winning gold Wednesday on what it means to join that class of U.S. female athletes. "They inspired me when I first started swimming so thank you to them, thank you to everyone that has supported me all these years."
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The United States now leads the rivalry with Australia in the pool 17-8, as Torri Huske won silver in the women's 100-meter freestyle final early on Wednesday. It is also the third gold medal in Paris for the United States in swimming, as Huske won gold in the women's 100-meter butterfly on Sunday and the men's team won the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay on Saturday.
Ledecky will now prepare for her last individual event at the Paris Games: the women's 800-meter freestyle. The preliminary heat for the 800-meter freestyle will be on Friday, Aug. 2 at 5 a.m. ET with the finals taking place Saturday, Aug. 3 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Considering Ledecky's prominence as one of the most decorated Olympians, the Bethesda, Maryland native received quite the warm and positive reaction on social media with her gold medal victory.
REQUIRED READING: Katie Ledecky medal count: How many has U.S. Swimmer won at 2024 Paris Olympics? Live updates, event tracker
Social media reacts to Katie Ledecky winning gold in 1500-meter freestyle at Paris Olympics
Here's a snippet of reactions on social media from Ledecky winning gold in the 1500-meter freestyle on Wednesday:
GOLD FOR THE G.O.A.T. 🥇@katieledecky matches the record for most Olympic medals won by a U.S. woman with her win in the 1500m freestyle.#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/MU3M5CsZLb
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) July 31, 2024
NEVER. IN. DOUBT. 🇺🇸🥇
KATIE LEDECKY STRIKES GOLD ONCE AGAIN! #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/rhI93GBU06— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2024
It’s another #OLYMPICRECORD for Katie Ledecky! 🇺🇸
She takes her 8th Olympic #gold!@TeamUSA | @WorldAquatics | #Swimming #Paris2024 | #OMEGA | #OMEGAOfficialTimekeeper pic.twitter.com/iND9OVxSFu— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 31, 2024
MEDAL NO. 12 FOR KATIE LEDECKY COMES IN DOMINANT FASHION! 🥇
Ledecky wins GOLD in the women's 1500m freestyle to make history. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/sGBFkLkQUc— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2024
KATIE LEDECKY WINS THE 1500M FREESTYLE 🥇
She ties the 2nd-most medals earned by any swimmer in Olympic history (12), only Michael Phelps has more (23). pic.twitter.com/bF3dh7f1JI— ESPN (@espn) July 31, 2024
KATIE LEDECKY. THATS IT. THATS THE TWEET.
— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) July 31, 2024
RAHHHH LEDECKY 🦅🦅🥇🇺🇸🇺🇸#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/gIR2H7qNQ6
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) July 31, 2024
TAKE A BOW KATIE LEDECKY! 🇺🇸
8 GOLD MEDALS AND A NEW OLYMPIC RECORD 🥇 pic.twitter.com/dyurghPD1M— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 31, 2024
Katie Ledecky wins. By a lot. pic.twitter.com/tTv6s67VwK
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 31, 2024
It's #Gold again for Katie Ledecky!
She now owns the TOP 20 FASTEST TIMES in the history of the Women's 1500m Freestyle. The 21st fastest time behind Ledecky is 18 seconds slower than here.
She won by 10 seconds today. Just insane.#TeamUSA #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/WLWxBfEY4w— Jeff D. Lowe (@JeffDLowe) July 31, 2024
KATIE. LEDECKY.
That's it. That's the tweet.#Paris2024 | #Swimming pic.twitter.com/2d2TjWjEka— LA28 (@LA28) July 31, 2024
Katie Ledecky. Greatest distance freestyler of all time. Lock it in. Don’t debate it. It’s real. pic.twitter.com/Dm3HsL5Ruo
— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) July 31, 2024
Katie Ledecky just won an Olympic gold with no one else in the frame 😳 pic.twitter.com/5JGgm59dKV
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) July 31, 2024
Katie Ledecky has set a new Olympic record in the women's 1500-meter freestyle, as she captures the eighth Olympic gold medal of her career. #Paris2024
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 31, 2024
Katie Ledecky is consistently getting some of the biggest non-French ovations from this crowd here in Paris.
So great to see the respect they’ve got for one of the greatest athletes we’ve ever seen.— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) July 31, 2024
Thing about 1500 meters is that it offers a really, really long time to be alone with your thoughts in the pool knowing there is absolutely nothing you could possibly do to catch Katie Ledecky
— Emma Baccellieri (@emmabaccellieri) July 31, 2024
Katie Ledecky in red, everyone else going in the yellow direction: pic.twitter.com/WZBzsIwvQi
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 31, 2024
NBC has moved to the All-22 cam so Katie Ledecky's competition can stay in the frame. pic.twitter.com/W79iuNkZfc
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 31, 2024
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Katie Ledecky wins women's 1500-meter freestyle in Paris: Social reactions
