After 8 Gold Medals, Katie Ledecky Looks to Los Angeles in 2028

Gold medalist Katie Ledecky of Team USA poses with the U.S. flag following the medal ceremony for the Women's 1500-meter Freestyle at the Olympic Games in Nanterre, France, on July 31, 2024. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

American swimmer Katie Ledecky hasn’t finished setting Olympic records.

Ledecky earned her eighth career Olympic gold medal and 12th overall with a victory in the 1,500-meter freestyle in the Paris Games. She’s tied with Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin, and Jenny Thompson for the most medals ever by a female swimmer.

She is the first female swimmer to win gold medals in four Olympic Games. However, the 27-year-old Ledecky has no plans to retire and has her sights on competing in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

“I’ve been consistent over these past few months,” Ledecky said at a press conference following the 1,500-meter freestyle race. “The last few years, I’ve been saying that I would love to compete in L.A., and that hasn’t changed. ... I don’t feel like I am close to being finished in this sport, and I would love to continue.”

She was dominant in winning the 1,500-meter freestyle, finishing in 15:30.02. She set an Olympic record and now holds the 20 fastest times in the event’s history.

“I try not to think about history that much, but those names, those people that I’m up with, they are swimmers I looked up to when I started swimming,” Ledecky said after the race. “It’s an honor to be named among them, and I’m grateful for them inspiring me, and so many other great swimmers over the years in the U.S. that have helped me get to this moment.”

She has the opportunity to break more records in Paris—she’s scheduled to compete in the 800 freestyle on Aug. 2 and 3.

Here’s a breakdown of all of Ledecky’s gold medals:

London 2012: 800-meter freestyle Rio 2016: 200-meter freestyle; 4x200-meter freestyle relay; 400-meter freestyle; 800-meter freestyle Tokyo 2020: 1500-meter freestyle; 800-meter freestyle Paris 2024: 1500-meter freestyle

Ledecky was born in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 17, 1997, and began swimming at age 6. She broke American records in high school and earned a berth on the U.S. Olympic Team at age 15. She set an American record in the 800-meter freestyle to win her first gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games in London.

She also performed well at the 2016 Rio Games and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, collected 26 World Championships medals, and holds several world records across various women’s freestyle events. She made history in Tokyo by winning a gold medal in the first women’s 1,500-meter race.

After the 2016 Games, Ledecky swam collegiately at Stanford, where she won eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles and set 15 NCAA records, winning back-to-back NCAA team championships and two consecutive Pacific-12 Conference team championships.

“I challenge myself to stay consistent,” she said at this summer’s Olympic Trials. “I mean, sometimes it can be tough ... feeling like you’re not having a breakthrough. But to be really consistent is something I’m really happy with.

“I’ve learned to just really enjoy each day of training and take in every moment and just appreciate the fact that I’ve been able to have this long of a career, stay injury-free, stay pretty healthy, and be able to do this many years.”