There is good and then there is great.
Katie Ledecky might be even better than great.
The 27-year-old Team USA swimmer enters the Summer Olympics in Paris with seven career gold medals and 10 total medals.
She’s a favorite again in 2024, rivaling Simone Biles and LeBron James as the biggest name for the United States.
Biles is a sport-changing gymnast attempting to overcome the twisties that troubled her in Tokyo in 2020.
James recently led Team USA men’s basketball to two tough wins in London.
Like Biles and The King, Ledecky is in a category of her own.
In fact, she’s been so fast in the Olympics that in-pool competitors sometimes haven’t even shown up on the TV screen.
Ledecky, who started her Olympic run in 2012 in London, consistently went viral in 2016 at Rio because she was so unbelievably fast.
In Toyko, she won gold in the 800m and 1500m freestyle.
In Rio, Ledecky captured four golds (200 free, 400 free, 800 free and 4×200 free relay).
And her first gold arrived in London, via the 800 free.
“I think back to the first time I started swimming, I never dreamed would make it to this level,” Ledecky said.
“I just got into the sport because I was having so much fun and I was meeting so many great friends.
“Eventually I made it to this point and got to travel all over the world, that’s been incredible and something I never imagined I’d get to do.”
Ledecky’s Olympic domination has also been almost unimaginable.
Fans could easily believe there is something wrong with the TV broadcast when it appears she’s swimming alone in the pool.
“Did everyone else give up the race and get out of the pool?” one fan tweeted. “What an awesome swim, well done.”
“Katie Ledecky is amazing,” a second fan posted. “Ten seconds, she could’ve run down to the corner store and back.”
“It’s like she is in to pool all by herself!” a third fan wrote. “Go girl!”
In past Olympics, Ledecky has been forced to wait at the end for her competition to show up.
She’s also able to swim while balancing a glass of milk on her head.
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News Summary:
- Swimming legend Katie Ledecky is so fast that her Olympic competitors sometimes don’t show up on the TV screen
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