NANTERRE, France — Katie Ledecky, the greatest female swimmer in history, added to her remarkable résumé Saturday night at the 2024 Olympic Games with a bronze medal in the much-anticipated women’s 400-meter freestyle race.
Ledecky, 27, the former world-record holder in the event who won the gold medal in 2016 in Rio and the silver in 2021 in Tokyo, hung on for third in 4:00.86.
Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, 23, won in 3:57.49.
Canadian Summer McIntosh, 17, took silver, .88 behind the winner.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
In her three previous Olympic Games, Ledecky won seven gold medals and three silvers. While she was not expected to win the gold medal in the 400, she is favored to win both the 800 and 1,500 freestyle events later in the Paris Games, and will likely win a medal as a member of the U.S. women’s 4×200 freestyle relay team.
Earlier this week, Ledecky was asked about the 400: “I like my chances but that’s me. I feel like I’m prepared and ready to race and that’s all you can ask for. I’m going to give it my best shot. It’s obviously a great field, top to bottom, lots of people that have a chance so I’m just going to put up a great race in the morning and at night and see where that lands me.”
Ledecky set the world record in the 400 freestyle at the Rio Olympics in a time of 3:56.46, a mark that stood for nearly six years until Titmus broke it in May 2022. Since then, McIntosh and Titmus have traded the 400 world record, with Titmus holding it coming into Saturday’s race with a time of 3:55.38.
